Jeff

See also: jeff

English

Etymology

From Jeffrey, a variant of Geoffrey, from Middle English Geffrey, from an Old French aristocratic name, Geoffroi [dʒɔfreʲ] (> West Middle French Geoffrey, East Middle French Geoffroy), itself from Proto-French forms (latinized in -us) Jotfredus, Jozsfredus, Josfredus (10th century) and Jof[f]redus, Jofridus, Jaufredus, Geffredus (11th century), and ultimately of Proto-Germanic origin. The second element is *friþuz (“peace, sanctuary”). The first element may be *gautaz (“a Geat, a Goth”) [making the Proto-Germanic term *Gautafriþu], as opposed to *gōdaz (“good”) or *gudą (“god”) in Godfrey; this would also make it related to Jocelyn. The name was introduced to England by the Normans in the 11th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛf/
• Homophone: Geoff
• Rhymes: -ɛf

Proper noun

Jeff (plural Jeffs)

1. A diminutive of the male given names Jeffrey, Jeffery, Jefferey, Jeffry, or Jefferson.
   • 2024 May 12, very tall bart, 1:29 from the start, in [YTP] prager time‎^[1] (YouTube poop; video), spoken by Penis Prager (Dennis Prager):

     We have Jeff. Jeff will be fired. We will exterminate Jeff.

   • 2025 June 26, Peter D'Abrosca, “Austin Metcalf’s accused killer Karmelo Anthony needs support fighting ‘white supremacy’ after murder indictment: spox”, in New York Post‎^[2]:

     After Anthony’s bond was reduced from $1 million to $250,000 in April, a press conference hosted by Alexander and NGAN devolved into chaos when Jeff Metcalf showed up.

2. A surname.

Synonyms

• Geoff

Derived terms

• Jeff Davis
• Jeff Davis County
• Mutt and Jeff

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Jeff is the 10255^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 3144 individuals. Jeff is most common among White (43.52%) and Black/African-American (34.01%) individuals.

Manx

Proper noun

Jeff m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Geoffrey

Mutation

Mutation of Jeff

radical	lenition	eclipsis
Jeff	Yeff	N'yeff

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Manx.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.