Jeff
Masculine · “peace”
Jeff is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 120,239 boys against 263 girls since 1880.
Jeff is the short form of a name that scholars have been arguing about for a century. Everyone agrees the second half means peace; nobody has settled what the first half meant, and there are three serious candidates.
How old is the name Jeff?
Jeff was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Jeff alive today was born around 1963, making them about 62 years old. About 92,500 people named Jeff are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jeff most popular?
Jeff peaked in 1962, reaching #44 nationally. Today it ranks #3314, 3,270 places below that high. See the whole 1962 chart.
Where it comes from
From Gaufrid to Jeff
The story of Jeff
Geoffrey came to England with the Normans and became one of the commonest names in the country within a generation — the England of the twelfth century is full of them, including the chronicler who invented most of what people believe about King Arthur. English later split the spelling into Geoffrey and Jeffrey, the second being the phonetic version, and America overwhelmingly took the second. Jeff as a name in its own right rose with it, peaking in the early 1960s.
Meaningscholars disagree
peace
Through Geoffrey, from a Germanic compound ending in frid, 'peace'. The first element is disputed between gawia, 'territory', walah, 'stranger' or 'foreigner', and gisil, 'pledge' — giving 'peace of the land', 'peace of the stranger' or 'peace by pledge'. Medieval scribes wrote all three variants, and it is likely that separate names merged.
How the name formed
- Gaufrid
- Geoffrey
- Jeffrey
- Jeff
Related forms: Geoffroy · Goffredo · Gottfried · Godofredo
Pronouncing Jeff
JEFF
One syllable. The Geoff spelling is said identically and is the British-leaning form of the same sound.
Nicknames for Jeff
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19608,511 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #44reached in 1962
- Change vs 2022
- −23.9%35 in 2025, from 46
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jeff in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Geoffroy in French — related form
- Goffredo in Italian — related form
- Gottfried in German — related form
- Godofredo in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, Texas.
Jeffs among us
people named Jeff are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 48,802 born in 2025 was named Jeff
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marvin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jeff's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marvin climbed just as high around 1931, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marvin's path sketches the road Jeff is walking now.
Jeff sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Jeff is headed
Jeff should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Jeff beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jeff in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, blunt and friendly, and impossible to get wrong in speech.
- Geoffrey and Jeffrey both stand behind it as formal options with nine hundred years of English use.
- Every major European language has a cousin form of the full name.
- Jeff or Geoff is a genuine spelling fork, and the second is common enough in Britain to be worth naming.
- As a given name on its own it stays informal, with no built-in formal register.
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What they receive
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Jeff
Masculine · #3314 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jeffs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 92,500 people named Jeff are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jeff in 2025?
- Jeff ranks #3314 among US boy names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jeff?
- About 1 in every 48,802 US boys born in 2025 was named Jeff — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jeff with classmates?
- Jeff will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jeff
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rainier#3314 · Coulter#3314 · Caio#3314 · Kaydon#3314 · Daksh#3314 · Kree#3314 · Calen#3314 · Mathis#3314
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jeff? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jeff and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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