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| Origins Available: |
| | England |
The Raff surname is a patronymic from a medieval form of the personal name Ralph.
The surname Raff was first found in Cornwall where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Kennet and Trevil in St.Juliet. "The manor called Tresparvet [in the parish of St. Ives] belongs to William Rawle, Esq. in whose family it has been vested for many generations. The manor of Tremorvill or Tremorill, which belonged to the Bottreaux family so early as the reign of Edward I. is the property of Mr. Rawle." 1
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Raff research. Another 168 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1400, 1632, 1658, 1660, 1683, 1686 and 1727 are included under the topic Early Raff History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Rawle, Rawles, Rorles, Ralls, Rall and others.
Notable amongst the family at this time was Francis Rawle (1660-1727), Cornish colonist, born in England, son of Francis Rawle, and came of an old Cornish family of some wealth and standing, settled at one time near St. Juliot, and later in the neighbourhood of Plymouth. "Both father and son were Quakers, and were persecuted...
Another 54 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Raff Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Raff is the 16,037th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2
The records on immigrants and ships' passengers show a number of people bearing the name Raff: