Where did the name Griffith come from? What is their coat of arms? When did the Griffith family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the history of the family name?

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Coat of Arms > Griffith Coat of Arms

Griffith Coat of Arms and Name History

Griffith

Origin Displayed: Irish-Alt

Origins Available: Irish-Alt, Welsh-Alt, Welsh

Spelling variations of this family name include: Griffin, O'Griffin, Griffen, O'Griffen, Griffith, Griffey, Griffy, O'Griffy and many more.

First found in the province of Munster where they had been granted lands by Strongbow after the Anglo Norman invasion into Ireland in 1172.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: George Griffin who settled in St. Christopher in 1633 and later moved to Virginia; Hugh Griffin settled in Virginia in 1649; Catherine and Margaret Griffin settled in Virginia in 1663.

(Above is a small excerpt from our 1800 word history)

Motto Translated: Wishing nothing base.

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Some noteworthy people of the name Griffith

Andrew Samuel Griffith (b. 1926), American actor
William Edgar Griffith (1920-1998), American political scientist
Melanie Griffith (b. 1957), American movie actress
John Griffith, American adventurer, author, sailor, and socialist
David Wark Griffith (1880-1948), American film producer
Sir John Griffith (1784-1878), Irish geologist and civil engineer
Arthur Griffith (1872-1922), Irish journalist, and politician, co-founder of Sinn Féin
Francis Llewellyn Griffith (1862-1934), English archaeologist and Egyptologist
Sir Samuel Walker Griffith (1845-1920), Australian jurist
Hugh Griffith (1912-1980), Welsh actor
Wing Commander Frank C Griffith, highly decorated British aviator awarded the Croix de Guerre during WW2