geoffrey
/ˈd͡ʒɛfɹi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.64 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- ""Were you not aware mamma had a son as well as three daughters?" "Yes, but I didn't know his name. I like Geoffrey; there's some sound in it.""
- "Geoff grimaced, then smiled back, reminding himself that when his mother wasn't riding this horse, she was a very interesting woman who had taught medieval literature at Drew University for twenty years. In fact, he had been named Geoffrey because of her great admiration for Chaucer."
- "His full name is Benji Duncan Geoffrey Rigby-Monk. 'You're joking,' Kit said, when I first told him. Benji? Not even Benjamin?' Duncan and ''Geoffrey are his two granddads'names ― both unglamorous and old-dufferish, in Kit's view, and not worth inflicting on a new generation ― and Rigby-Monk is a fusion of Fran's surname and Anton's."
Etymology
From Middle English Geffrey, from an Old French aristocratic name, Geoffroi [dʒɔfreʲ] (> West Middle French Geoffrey, East Middle French Geoffroy), itself from Proto-French forms (latinized in -us) Jotfredus, Jozsfredus, Josfredus (10th century) and Jof[f]redus, Jofridus, Jaufredus, Geffredus (11th century), and ultimately of Proto-Germanic origin. The second element is *friþuz (“peace, sanctuary”). The first element may be *gautaz (“a Geat, a Goth”) [making the Proto-Germanic term *Gautafriþu, as opposed to *gōdaz (“good”) or *gudą (“god”) in Godfrey; this would also make it related to Jocelyn]. The name was introduced to England by the Normans in the 11th century. Partially displaced Old English Ceolfriþ.