Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó
Duibh (‘descendant of Dubh’), Mac Giolla Duibh (‘son
of the servant of Dubh’), or a short form of Duffin 2
(County Wexford), MacElduff (County Tyrone; see
Kilduff), Mac Duibh, and Duffy, all of which are
formed from personal names containing the element dubh ‘dark’,
‘black’ (widely used as a nickname or byname for a dark-haired man or
man of dark temperament and as an element of personal names).
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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