McCaffrey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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Ireland

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

The surname McCaffrey 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 McCaffrey family

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

McCaffrey Spelling Variations

Pronunciation, rather than spelling, was what guided scribes and church officials in recording names, a practice that often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname McCaffrey are preserved in documents that were examined for evidence of the family's history. The various spellings of McCaffrey included MacCaffery, MacCaffrey, MacCafferty, MacAffery, MacAffry, MacAfferty, MacGoffrey, MacGodfrey and many more.

Early Notables of the McCaffrey family

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

McCaffrey Ranking

In the United States, the name McCaffrey is the 3,874^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 2

McCaffrey 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 McCaffrey:

McCaffrey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Bartholomew McCaffrey, who landed in Maryland in 1803 3
William McCaffrey, who landed in Mississippi in 1824 3
Michael McCaffrey, who landed in Maryland in 1826 3
Hugh McCaffrey, who arrived in Mobile County, Ala in 1843 3
Mary McCaffrey, aged 18, who arrived in New York in 1849 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

McCaffrey Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Bell McCaffrey, aged 70, who immigrated to the United States from Donegal, Ireland, in 1902
Andrew McCaffrey, aged 20, who landed in America from Belfast, in 1904
Annie McCaffrey, aged 34, who settled in America from Cavan, in 1905
Bessie McCaffrey, aged 38, who landed in America from Kearney, in 1906
Annie McCaffrey, aged 30, who landed in America from Ballinamore, Ireland, in 1907
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

McCaffrey migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

McCaffrey Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. John McCaffrey U.E. who settled in Eastern District [Cornwall], Ontario c. 1786 he served in the Royal Regiment of New York 4

McCaffrey Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

John McCaffrey, aged 23, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the brig "Ugoni" from Belfast, Ireland
Mary McCaffrey, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Robert Burns" in 1834
Miss. Elizabeth McCaffrey, aged 11 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "John and Robert" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in August 1847 5
Mrs. Ellen McCaffrey, aged 42 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Sisters" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in July 1847 5
Ms. Ellen McCaffrey, aged 19 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Asia" departing from the port of Cork, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in September 1847 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

McCaffrey migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

McCaffrey Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Ann Phillips McCaffrey, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "William Nicol" in 1840 6
John McCaffrey, aged 18, who arrived in South Australia in 1849 aboard the ship "Harry Lorrequer" 7
Margaret McCaffrey, aged 20, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1849 aboard the ship "Harry Lorrequer" 7
James McCaffrey, aged 27, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Velocity"
John McCaffrey, aged 22, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1858 aboard the ship "Nugget" 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

McCaffrey 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:

McCaffrey Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. James McCaffrey, (b. 1853), aged 20, Scottish tile cutter travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Wild Deer" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 5th March 1874 9

Contemporary Notables of the name McCaffrey (post 1700) +

Christian Jackson McCaffrey (b. 1996), American NFL football running back for the San Francisco 49ers, one of three players ever to record 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season
James McCaffrey (1959-2023), American actor best known for his voice role as Max Payne in the Max Payne video game series, Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me (2004–2011), and Captain Arthur O'Breun in New York Undercover (1994–1997)
Dominick McCaffrey (b. 1863), American boxer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Todd J. McCaffrey (b. 1956), née Johnson, an American author of science fiction best known for continuing the Dragonriders of Pern series in collaboration with his mother Anne McCaffrey
James D. McCaffrey, American research software engineer at Microsoft Research known for his contributions to machine learning, combinatorics, and software test automation
Billy McCaffrey (b. 1971), American retired basketball player
Luke McCaffrey (b. 2001), American football wide receiver and former quarterback for the Rice Owls
Maxwell James "Max" McCaffrey (b. 1994), American football coach and former wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons
Stephen Conolley McCaffrey (b. 1945), American legal academic who won the Stockholm Water Prize in 2017
Stephanie Ann McCaffrey (b. 1993), American former soccer player who played as a forward for the United States women's national team (2014-2016)
... (Another 10 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)