Show ContentsGarfinkel History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Today's Irish surnames are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Garfinkel originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Gairbhin, derived from the word "garbh," which means "rough." 1

Early Origins of the Garfinkel family

The surname Garfinkel was first found in County Tyrone (Irish: Tír Eoghain), the ancient territory of the O'Neills, now in the Province of Ulster, central Northern Ireland, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.

Early History of the Garfinkel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Garfinkel research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1000, 1527, 1558, 1560 and 1595 are included under the topic Early Garfinkel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Garfinkel Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Garvin, Garvey, Garwin, Garvine, Garven, Garvan, Garvy, Garvie, Garwen and many more.

Early Notables of the Garfinkel family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was John Garvey (1527-1595), an Irish Protestant bishop of Kilmore and Archbishop of Armagh. He was the eldest son of John O'Garvey of Morisk, co. Mayo and was born in the county of Kilkenny. "He was educated at Oxford, where he graduated in the reign of Edward VI; but through some negligence his name does not appear in the public...
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Garfinkel Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Garfinkel Ranking

In the United States, the name Garfinkel is the 15,194th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Garfinkel family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: James Garvey who settled in Virginia in 1680; Daniel Garvin, an 'enforced' Irish emigrant, sent to America in 1742; Patrick Garve, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1773.


Contemporary Notables of the name Garfinkel (post 1700) +

  • Gary Garfinkel (1963-2018), American television executive
  • Howard Garfinkel (1930-2016), American basketball scout and promoter
  • Charles B. Garfinkel, American politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Bronx County 5th District, 1918; Defeated, 1918; Candidate for New York State Senate 23rd District, 1936 3


  1. MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  3. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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