Caffer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Etymology of Caffer

What does the name Caffer mean?

There are multitude of rich histories underlying the many Irish surnames in use today. The name Caffer originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Gafraidh. Gafraidh or Gothraidh equates with the English personal name Godfrey. Variations that start with the prefix Mac or Mc mean son of Godfrey.

Early Origins of the Caffer family

The surname Caffer was first found in County Fermanagh (Irish: Fear Manach) in the southwestern part of Northern Ireland, Province of Ulster, where they held a family seat at Ballymacaffrey near Five mile Town in Fermanagh near the Tyrone border. 1

Early History of the Caffer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Caffer research. Another 51 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1987 is included under the topic Early Caffer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Caffer Spelling Variations

Many different spelling variations of the surname Caffer were found in the archives researched. These included Scribes and church officials generally spelled a name as it sounded; as a result, a person's name could be spelt innumerable ways in his lifetime. MacCaffery, MacCaffrey, MacCafferty, MacAffery, MacAffry, MacAfferty, MacGoffrey, MacGodfrey and many more.

Early Notables of the Caffer family

Reverend James MacCaffery (d. 1987), distinguished Irish historian

Caffer migration to the United States +

North America received thousands of Irish immigrants from the English-ruled Ireland during the 19th century. Once in the United States or what would become Canada, these immigrants quickly contributed to the ongoing settling and industrialization processes. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. An exhaustive examination of immigrant and passenger lists has shown many early immigrants bearing the surname of Caffer:

Caffer Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Elizabeth Caffer, who landed in New York, NY in 1817 2

Sources +

MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)