Jefferey
Masculine · “peace”
Jefferey carries a letter that changes nothing, which puts it in a long tradition. This name has never had a settled spelling: English has written it with a G and with a J for eight hundred years, and neither side has ever won.
How old is the name Jefferey?
Jefferey first appears in US birth records in 1943 — 82 years ago. The typical Jefferey alive today was born around 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 3,500 people named Jefferey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jefferey most popular?
Jefferey peaked in 1969, reaching #665 nationally. See the whole 1969 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Gaufrid to Jefferey
The story of Jefferey
The Normans brought the name to England, where it was written Galfridus in Latin, Geffrey in English and Jeffrey when the writer went by ear. The G and the J spellings have coexisted ever since, and for six hundred years Geoffrey was also confused with Godfrey, a different Germanic name entirely, so that the same man might appear as both in two documents from the same decade. Modern English kept the pair as separate names by convention rather than by descent, giving Geoffrey the older look and Jeffrey the plainer one. Jefferey is a third try, adding a letter to the American spelling without changing how anyone says it.
Meaningscholars disagree
peace
The second element is certainly the Germanic frid, peace. The first is not: at least three different Frankish names, with first elements meaning district, traveler and God, collapsed into one form in medieval French, and no one can say which of them a given Geoffrey descends from.
How the name formed
- Gaufrid
- Galfridus
- Geoffrey
- Jeffrey
- Jefferey
Related forms: Geoffroy · Goffredo · Godofredo · Gottfried
Pronouncing Jefferey
JEF-ree
Two syllables with the weight at the front. The extra e is silent, so Jeffrey and Jefferey are said the same way.
Nicknames for Jefferey
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
- 1943
- Most boys named
- 1969141 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #665reached in 1969
- Change vs 2017
- +33.3%8 in 2019, from 6
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.
Jefferey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Geoffroy in French — same name
- Goffredo in Italian — same name
- Godofredo in Spanish — related form
- Gottfried in German — related form
Jeffereys among us
people named Jefferey are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jefferey sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Said aloud it is entirely familiar and needs no explanation.
- Jeff works everywhere and hides the spelling completely.
- It has a documented history in England reaching back to the Norman Conquest.
- Jeffrey, Geoffrey, Jeffery and Jefferey are four live spellings, and correcting them is a lifelong task.
- The extra letter adds no sound at all, so the distinction is invisible in speech.
- The name sits firmly in the middle of the twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Jefferey
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Jeffereys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,500 people named Jefferey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jefferey in 2025?
- Jefferey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Jefferey with classmates?
- Jefferey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
James#6 · John#23 · Joseph#29 · Joshua#66 · Jason#165 · Jacob#43 · Jeffrey#552 · Jonathan#89
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jefferey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jefferey and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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