Jeffrey

“Variant of Geoffrey — god peace (from Germanic *guda 'god' + *frithuz 'peace')” — Germanic, via Geoffrey origin

Boy's name · #552 in the US (2025) · Retro

Jeffrey's best rank, #9, came in 1966; it has stepped well back to #552 today. Roughly 980,000 boys have been named Jeffrey since 1885. Jeff is a short form of Jeffrey.

Around the world: about 1 in 5,900 boys in Canada (2024) · about 1 in 18,000 boys in England & Wales (2025).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 41 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Jeffreys

Jeffrey Sachs — American economist (born 1954)
Jeffrey C. Hall — American geneticist and chronobiologist
Jeffrey Wright — American actor (born 1965)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan — American actor
Jeffrey Archer — English author and former politician (born 1940)

In stories & tradition

Jeffrey King — One Life to Live
Jeffrey Sinclair — Babylon 5
Jeffrey Spender — The X-Files

What Jeffreys become

Among 1,941 notable people named Jeffrey:

Scientists & scholars appear 1.89× more often than among typical names — e.g. Jeffrey Sachs, American economist (born 1954).

Similar names: Jeffery · Eric · Jeremy · Corey · Bradley · Gary

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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