Given name & surname · also Germanic
Jeffery
“a man of peace”
Jeffery is a variant of Jeffrey. One German interpretation is “a man of peace.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Jeffery is a variant of Jeffrey. One German interpretation is “a man of peace.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Jeffery comes from Germanic, and ultimately from Germanic languages.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1894. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Jeffery through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 231,818
- 230,549 boys · 1,269 girls
- Most popular year
- 1962
- 9,331 babies
- 2025
- 110
- #1,556 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −43%
- Cooling
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 110 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,556 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 42.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 9,282 in 1962. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (13). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 152,231 as a first name in 2020; 9,422 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Jeffery’s family of names
In English usage, Jeffery has a diminutive in Jeff. Jeffery has a related form in Jeffrey. In English usage, Jeffery has a related form in Geoffrey.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 8
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Jeffery
- John SteinbeckAmerican writer (1902–1968)
- Jeff GarlinAmerican comedian and actorborn 1962
- Young ThugAmerican rapper and singerborn 1991
- Jeffery DeaverAmerican novelist, journalist, lawyerborn 1950
- Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron AmherstBritish Army officer (1717–1797)
- Jeffery TaylorSwedish-American basketball playerborn 1989
- Jeff ProbstAmerican television hostborn 1961
- Jeffery XiongAmerican chess playerborn 2000
- Jeffery GibsonBahamian hurdlerborn 1990
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Jeffery, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Barry
“a fair-haired man”
>99% boys
Kenny
“born of fire” · “handsome, fair one”
98% boys · 2% girls
Gary
“one who wields a spear”
>99% boys
Glenn
“from the valley between the hills” · “from the secluded narrow valley”
>99% boys
Randall
“the wolf shield”
>99% boys
Roderick
Roderick has Germanic roots, with later Scottish and Welsh uses that follow different paths.
>99% boys
Karl
“a free man”
>99% boys
Gerard
“one who is mighty with a spear”
>99% boys