Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Gamhna
‘descendant of Gamhain’, a byname meaning ‘calf’. On occasion
the English surname Caulfield was adopted as equivalent.
Possibly an altered spelling of Swiss German Gaf(f)ner, a
topographic name for a cottage dweller, from dialect Gafene
‘large basket’, ‘Alpine (dairy) hut’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The gaffney name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the gaffney family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the gaffney last name.