AcuffEnglish (American) Acuff Name Meaning. English: of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of northern English Aculf, from an Old Norse personal name Agúlfr 'terror wolf'... [more]
AlhadeffJudeo-Spanish Possibly an occupational name for a weaver from Arabic الهداف (al-̣haddāf) meaning "the weaver's shuttle". Alternately, it may be from Arabic الهدى (al-hadā) meaning "the guided one".
AlsagoffArabic Variant of Al Saqqaf primarily used in Southeast Asia. This is the name of a prominent Arab family in Singapore.
AlthoffGerman A surname predominantly found in Westphalia and the Rhineland region of Germany which is derived from German alt "old" and Hof (Hoff in the local dialects) "farmstead; farm; manor".
AyliffEnglish From the medieval female personal name Ayleve (from Old English Æthelgifu, literally "noble gift"), or from the Old Norse nickname Eilífr, literally "ever-life".
BraffAmerican Jewish (from Poland): probably an ornamental name from German brav 'good', 'upright'. Swedish: an old spelling of Brav, possibly a soldier's name.
CaduffRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Duff, itself a diminutive of Rudolf.
ChernoffRussian, Jewish Alternative spelling of Chernov, a patronymic from the byname Chernyj meaning ‘black’, denoting a black-haired or dark-skinned person.
CliffEnglish habitational name from any of numerous places called Cliff(e), Cle(e)ve, or Clive, from Old English clif "slope, bank, cliff", or a topographic name from the same word... [more]
CluffEnglish Derived from pre 7th century word "cloh" meaning a ravine or steep-sided valley.
CruijffDutch Referred to a person with curly locks of hair, derived from Middle Dutch cruuf, cruve literally meaning "curl, lock", ultimately from Latin curvus. This name has been borne by two Dutch soccer players, Johan Cruijff (1947-2016) and his son Jordi Cruijff (1974-).
CruyffDutch Variant of Cruijff. This name was borne by Johan Cruyff (1947-2016) and his son Jordi Cruyff (1974-), both Dutch soccer players.
De GraaffDutch Variant spelling of De Graaf "the count", an occupational name for someone who worked for a count, or perhaps a nickname for someone who behaved like one.
GalishoffUpper German, German (Austrian) Derived from the ancient Roman name Gallus, meaning "rooster" in Latin. Hoff meaning house combines the growing or tending to poultry on a farm house, hence the name Galishoff which has been modified over the millennia... [more]
GloffGerman German and Swiss German: from the Germanic personal name Egilolf, composed of the elements agi(l) ‘edge’, ‘point’ (of a sword) + wolf ‘wolf’, cognate with Old English Ecgwulf. This was the name of several Lombard kings (ancestors of the Bavarian ducal line of the Agilolfinger), who introduced the name to Italy.
GraffEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a clerk or scribe, from Anglo-Norman French grafe "quill, pen" (a derivative of grafer "to write", Late Latin grafare, from Greek graphein).
GrindstaffGerman (Anglicized) Americanized form of German Frenzhof or Grenzhof, a place near Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg or Granzow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.
KalthoffGerman German (Westphalian): habitational name from a place named as 'the cold farm', from Middle High German kalt "cold" + hof "farmstead", "manor farm’, "court".
KiffEnglish the origin of the name KIFF could have come from a variation of KITH as in "kith and kin". The O.E.D. definition of the word KITH is that of a native land, familiar place or home so "kith and kin" meant your home and your relations... [more]
KiffGerman Topographic name from a Westphalian dialect Kiff "outhouse, tied cottage, shack".
KirchhoffGerman An old Norse origin surname. Combination of Norse word Kirkr and Hoff means 'garden'.
MacduffScottish Gaelic From the ancient Scottish Gaelic Mac duib meaning "son of the black/dark man." This name may have originated as a ethnic term about the native Scots used by Viking conquestors during the later half of the First Millenium... [more]
NeffGerman, German (Swiss) From Middle High German neve 'nephew', hence probably a distinguishing name for a close relation or familiar of a prominent personage.
PolnareffFrench Most known by famous French singer Michel Polnareff, and fictional Jojo's Bizarre Adventure character Jean-Pierre Polnareff (who is named after the singer).
PontiffFrench Means "bridge builder". Comes from the French word pont, which means bridge. ... [more]
RatcliffEnglish Habitational name from any of the places, in various parts of England, called Ratcliff(e), Radcliffe, Redcliff, or Radclive, all of which derive their names from Old English rēad meaning "red" + clif meaning "cliff", "slope", "riverbank".
SackhoffGerman Occupational name for a farmer who cultivated land to grow plants, particularly crops, derived from Middle High German sack meaning "sack, end of a valley, area of cultivation" and hof meaning "farmstead, manor, farm"... [more]
SchaffGerman Name given to sheepherders, accounding to personal family history.
SchiffGerman, Jewish From Middle High German Schif "ship", indicating the bearer was either a sailor, or lived in a house distinguished by a ship sign.
SheriffEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for a sheriff, derived from Middle English schiref, shreeve, shryve literally meaning "sheriff", or from Old English scir meaning "shire, administrative district" and (ge)refa meaning "reeve"... [more]
ShroffIndian, Hindi, Gujarati, Arabic, Urdu, Indian (Parsi) Originally an occupational name for a cashier, money changer or banker, derived from Gujarati સરાફ (saraf) meaning "bullion merchant", itself ultimately derived from Arabic صراف (sarraf) meaning "teller".
SklueffRussian (Latinized, Rare, ?) Means bird of prey. From Russia. Was changed by the government from Cellieic letters to Latin letters. Unknown if it was change in Russia or Harbin, Chun where they escaped Bolshevism.
StancliffEnglish Habitational name from Scout in Northowram (Yorkshire) recorded as Staynclif in 1309 and Stancliff Skoute (the home of Edward Stankliff) in 1536. The placename derives from Old English stan 1 "stone rock" with influence from Old Norse steinn "stone rock" and Old English clif "cliff bank" later with Middle English scoute "projecting cliff overhanging rock" (Old Norse skúti).
StiffEnglish (American) Used sometimes as a derogatory term, stiff means uptight. It is used in a surname in American culture as well as in the media, such as novels, movies or tv shows.
SutcliffEnglish From Old English sūth, meaning "south, southern" and cliff.
WolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffGerman (Rare) The truncated form of the surname Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffwelchevoralternwarengewissenhaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeundsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvorangreifendurchihrraubgierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolfhunderttausendjahresvorandieerscheinenvonderersteerdemenschderraumschiffgenachtmittungsteinundsiebeniridiumelektrischmotorsgebrauchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlangefahrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchennachbarschaftdersternwelchegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinderneuerassevonverstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefortpflanzenundsicherfreuenanlebenslanglichfreudeundruhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvorandererintelligentgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraum... [more]
WoodruffEnglish, Caribbean Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of land where woodruff grew, Anglo-Saxon wudurofe composed of wudu "wood" with a second element of unknown origin.
WyckoffEast Frisian (Rare) Means "settlement on a bay", from Old Frisian wik "bay, inlet" and hof "courtyard, farmstead".