There are multitude of rich histories underlying the many Irish surnames in use today. The name Caffree 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 Caffree family
The surname Caffree 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]CITATION[CLOSE]
MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
Early History of the Caffree family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Caffree research.
Another 101 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 198 and 1987 are included under the topic Early Caffree History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Caffree Spelling Variations
Many different
spelling variations of the surname Caffree were found in the archives researched. These included Scribes and church officials generally spelled a name as it sounded; as a result, a person's name could be spelt innumerable ways in his lifetime. MacCaffery, MacCaffrey, MacCafferty, MacAffery, MacAffry, MacAfferty, MacGoffrey, MacGodfrey and many more.
Early Notables of the Caffree family (pre 1700)
More information is included under the topic Early Caffree Notables in all our
PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Caffree family to the New World and Oceana
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 Caffree: Biddy MacCafferty who settled in Newcastle in 1804; Arthur, Charles, Daniel, Edward, Henry, Hugh, James, John, Patrick, and Robert MacCafferty all arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1840 and 1860.