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The buff Surname

buff Name Meaning and History

  1. German: nickname for a violent, aggressive person, from Middle High German buf ‘push’, ‘shove’.
  2. German: from the Old German personal name Bodo or the compound name Bodefrit, containing the Old High German element buitan ‘to bid or order’ or boto ‘messenger’.
  3. English: of uncertain derivation; possibly a nickname, either variant of Boff 1, or alternatively from Old French buf(f)e ‘blow’, ‘slap in the face’. Compare Buffin.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The buff name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the buff family name as far back in history as possible.

buff Family Facts

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Distribution of buff Families in the US in 1920
Number of buff families
 33-63
 12-32
 1-11
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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The information for this map came from Ancestry.com’s US Federal Census Collection.
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