Caffan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Caffan comes from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It was a name for a bald man. The surname Caffan is a diminutive derived from the Old French words chauf and cauf, which both mean bald. This is ultimately derived from the Latin word calvus, which has the same meaning. The words chauf and cauf are supplemented by the suffixes in or on, which have several variations and are two of the most common diminutive suffixes.

Early Origins of the Caffan family

The surname Caffan was first found in Dorset where branches of the family were found in Chettle and Folke. Chettle dates back to at least the Domesday Book where it was listed as Ceotel and probably was derived from the Old English word ceotel, meaning "deep valley." Folke dates back to 1244 where it was derived from the Old English word folc, which meant people, as in "land held by the people." 1

Early History of the Caffan family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Caffan research. Another 56 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1600, 1602, 1627, 1628, 1641, 1666, 1668, 1688 and 1714 are included under the topic Early Caffan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Caffan Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Caffan has undergone many spelling variations, including Chaffin, Chaffinch, Caffin and others.

Early Notables of the Caffan family

Distinguished members of the family include Thomas Chaffin, High Sheriff of Dorset in 1627; and Matthew Caffyn (1628-1714), an English General Baptist preacher and writer from Horsham, Sussex. "He was the seventh son of Thomas Caffin, by Elizabeth his wife. In Lower's 'Worthies of Sussex' it is erroneously said that 'his father was a German;' the family existed in the neighbourhood at an early date." 2 Thomas Chiffinch (1600-1666), was Keeper of...
Another 70 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Caffan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Caffan family

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Caffan were among those contributors: John Chaffinch who settled in Connecticut in 1630; Daniel Chaffin arrived in Barbados in 1680 with his wife and servants; Fortune Chaffin arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1827..

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print