Griffin (surname)

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Griffin coat of arms
Griffin coat of arms

Griffin was the 75th most common surname on the island of Ireland in 1891. (Matheson 1891) In Wales, Griffin has been established as the 65th most frequent Welsh surname. (Williams 1996) It was estimated in 1990 that Griffin is the 98th most common surname in the U.S., with a population in the order of two hundred thousand. (U.S. Census Bureau 1990)

[edit] Griffin in Ireland

The surname "Griffin" has two primary Gaelic sources in Ireland, which pertain to the towns of Ballygriffey in Co. Clare, and Ballygriffin in Co. Kerry. The spelling "Ó Gríobhtha" is associated with the Co. Clare family, whose surname was also anglicised as "O'Griffey" or "Griffey". "Ó Gríobhtha" translates to English as "decedent of the Griffin-like". The "Ó Griffín" spelling belongs to the Kerry family. In Ireland, the name can also be associated with the Norman surname "Griffith", but to a much lesser degree. (O'Laughin 1997)

[edit] Griffin in Wales

The surname "Griffin" in Wales is also, generally speaking, a variant of the surname "Griffith", or other similar Welsh names.

[edit] Griffin in Sweden

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In Sweden, the griffin Coat-of-Arms gave one actually used surname, Grip, and belonged to three somewhat distinct medieval noble families, to which each a such surname is retrospectively dubbed:

  • the family of so-called griphuvud who are known to have been nearly-hereditary justiciars of Westrogothia (no surname was contemporaneously used of them and they went extinct in 14th century, but later historiography has dubbed "griphuvud", head of griffin, as sort of name to them); and
  • the two families of Grip av Vinäs, one descended from last female of the other, "Griffin of Vinaes", who are attested to have been related in some (not specifically) way at least with the first (Griphuvud) family (no surname was used of the Grip av Vinäs in Middle Ages, but this family and its Arms continued until 17th century, admittedly through one female heiress but the Arms were retained by her issue; and at least one generation before their male-line end this, to baronial rank elevated family certainly was called with the surname Grip, "Griffin".)

All these may have represented different branches of a clan descended from legendary Geatish local chieftains. This historical noble name (or word) "Grip" has then, in later centuries, been used as surname of some other Swedish families.

The family of Aspenäs whose Arms is called "lejonörn" (lion-eagle) and who may have descended from early justiciars of Westrogothia (no surname was contemporaneously used of this family which went extinct in 15th century) had the escutcheon, lion-eagle, squarely opposite of griffin: Lion-eagle is formed of eagle's hindparts and lion's head.

[edit] Famous People with the Griffin Surname

This page or section lists people with the surname Griffin. If an internal link for a specific person referred you to this page, you may wish to add the given name(s) to that wikilink.

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[edit] References

  • O'Laughin, M. C. (1997). "The Book of Irish Families Great & Small". Irish Genealogical Foundation.
  • Matheson, R. E. (1891). "Special Report on Surnames in Ireland".
  • Williams, M. (1996) "Researching Local History".
  • U.S. Census Bureau (1990), Population Division, Population Analysis & Evaluation Staff.

[edit] See also

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same human name. If an article link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
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