Show ContentsCafferty History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

There are multitude of rich histories underlying the many Irish surnames in use today. The name Cafferty 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 Cafferty family

The surname Cafferty 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 Cafferty family

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

Cafferty Spelling Variations

Many different spelling variations of the surname Cafferty exist in the archives researched. Ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in a single person being recorded under several different spellings. Different spellings that were found include MacCaffery, MacCaffrey, MacCafferty, MacAffery, MacAffry, MacAfferty, MacGoffrey, MacGodfrey and many more.

Early Notables of the Cafferty family

More information is included under the topic Early Cafferty Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Cafferty migration to the United States +

Irish emigration to North America began modestly in the late 18th century. At this time, Irish families made the journey to British North America and the United States by choice and after careful consideration: they were primarily in search of a suitably large stretch of land to call their own. This pattern would change most dramatically during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. For example, the years 1825-1845 saw approximately 450,000 heading to British North America and 400,000 to the United States, but in 1847, at the height of the famine, it is estimated that more than 104,000 Irish immigrants went to British North America and more than 119,000 to the United States. An examination of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many early immigrants bearing the name Cafferty:

Cafferty Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Girzy Cafferty, who arrived in New York, NY in 1816 2
  • Mary Cafferty, who landed in New York, NY in 1816 2

New Zealand Cafferty migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Cafferty Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • James Cafferty, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Andrew Jackson" in 1865


  1. MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
  2. 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)


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