Griffin (surname)
Griffin | |
---|---|
Family name | |
Griffin surname map | |
Meaning | "descendant of the Griffin-like" |
Footnotes: [1] |
Griffin is a surname of primarily Irish origin. Griffin was the 75th most common surname on the island of Ireland in 1891.[2] It was estimated in 2000 that Griffin is the 114th most common surname in the U.S., with a population in the order of two hundred thousand.[3]
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. Cork.
The spelling "Ó Gríofa" (male) / "Ní Ghríofa" (female) is associated with the Co. Clare family, whose surname was also anglicised as "O'Griffey" or "Griffey". "Ó Gríofa" translates to English as "descendant of the Griffin-like". Prior to the Irish spelling review, "Ó Gríofa" was spelt "Ó Gríobhtha".
The "Ó Grifín" (male) / "Ní Ghrifín" (female) spelling belongs to the Kerry family.
In Ireland, the name can also be associated with the Welsh surname "Griffith", but to a much lesser degree.[4]
Griffin in Wales
The surname "Griffin" in Wales, generally speaking, is a variant of the surname "Griffith", or other similar Welsh names.
Notable people with the Griffin surname
A
- Adrian Griffin (born 1974), American basketball player
- Alan Griffin (born 1960), Australian politician
- Alex Griffin (born 1971), English guitarist
- Alfredo Griffin (born 1957), Dominican Republic baseball player
- Alistair Griffin (born 1977), English singer/songwriter and musician
- Andy Griffin (born 1979), English footballer
- Angela Griffin (born 1976), English television actress
- Anne Dias-Griffin (born 1971), French/American hedge fund manager
- Anthony Griffin, Australian rugby league football coach
- Anthony Jerome Griffin (1866–1935), American politician
- Archie Griffin (born 1954), American football player
- Arthur Joseph Griffin (born 1988), American baseball player
B
- Bartholomew Griffin (died 1602), English poet
- Becky Griffin (born 1977), Israeli model and actress
- Ben Griffin (disambiguation), several people
- Benjamin Griffin (disambiguation), several people
- Bessie Griffin (1922-1989), American Gospel singer
- Blake Griffin (born 1989), American basketball player
- Brian C. Griffin (born 1953), American businessman & administrator
C
- Cedric Griffin (born 1982), American football player
- Charles Griffin (1825-1867), American Union general
- Charlie Griffin (born 1979), British footballer
- Clarence Griffin (1888-1973), American tennis player
- Clive Griffin, British singer
- Cornelius Griffin (born 1986), American football player
- Cyrus Griffin (1749-1810), American lawyer & administrator
D
- Dale "Buffin" Griffin (1948-2016), British musician
- Daniel T. Griffin (1911-1941), American Navy pilot
- Danny Griffin (born 1977), Northern Ireland footballer
- David Griffin (disambiguation)
- David Ray Griffin (born 1939), philosopher, theologian, and proponent of 9/11 conspiracy theories
- Des Griffin, American conspiracy theorist
- Donald Griffin (1915-2003), American Zoologist
- Doug Griffin (born 1947), American baseball player
E
- Eddie Griffin, African-American actor and comedian
- Eddie Griffin (basketball)
- Edgar Griffin, British politician
- Eric Griffin
- Eric Griffin (basketball) (born 1990), basketball player for Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Basketball Premier League[5]
F
- Forrest Griffin (born 1979), American MMA fighter
- Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864–1937), French poet
G
- G. Edward Griffin (born 1931), American film producer, publisher, author and lecturer
- Gavin Griffin (born 1981), American poker player
- Geoffrey Griffin (cricketer)
- Geoffrey William Griffin
- George C. Griffin
- Gerald Griffin
H
- A. Harry Griffin, journalist and mountaineer
- Harry Griffin (cricketer), English cricketer
- Hawley Griffin, the variant from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
I
- Ian P. Griffin, British Astronomer
J
- James D. Griffin
- James Bennett Griffin
- Jane Griffin (Lady Franklin)
- Jimmy Griffin
- John Griffin (disambiguation)
- John-Ford Griffin
- John Griffin Griffin, name used by John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden
- John Howard Griffin
- Johnny Griffin
K
- Kathy Griffin, American comedian
- Katie Griffin
- Kelsey Griffin (born 1987), American basketball player
- Kenneth W. Griffin (1909–1956), American organist
- Kenneth C. Griffin, hedge fund manager and Forbes 400 member
- Kevin Griffin
L
- Larry Griffin
- Leonard Griffin
- Lois Griffin (Toronto politician)
- Lorna Griffin
- Lynne Griffin
- Liam Griffin (disambiguation)
M
- Marcus Griffin
- Marvin Griffin
- Marion Mahony Griffin
- Merv Griffin (1925–2007), entertainer, talk show host, and creator of the television game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune
- Michael D. Griffin, the Administrator of NASA
- Michael F. Griffin, anti-abortion activist who killed David Gunn
- Michael Griffin (American football) (born 1985), American football player
- Michael Griffin (Irish priest) murdered during the Irish War for Independence. Father Griffins GAA club in the Irish city of Galway is named after him.
- Montell Griffin, professional boxer
- Morgan Griffin, professional actress starred in Nickelodeon show The Sleepover Club Series 2 as Charlie Anderson
N
- Nick Griffin (born 1959), former chairman of the British National Party
- Nikki Griffin (born 1978), American actress
- Nonnie Griffin (born 1933), Canadian stage actress
P
- Patty Griffin (born 1964), American singer-songwriter
- Paul Griffen (born 1975), New Zealand-born Italian rugby player
- Paul Griffin (disambiguation), several people
Q
- Quentin Griffin (born 1981), American football player
R
- Renee Griffin(born 1968), American actress
- Richard Griffin and Company, 19th-century Scots publishing house
- Richard Allen Griffin (born 1952), American judge
- Rick Griffin (1944-1991) American illustrator & cartoonist
- Robert Griffin III (born 1990), American football player
- Robert P. Griffin (1923-2015), American politician
- Roger Griffin (born 1948), British historian
S
- S. A. Griffin (born 1954), American poet & actor
- Samuel Griffin (1746-1810), American lawyer & politician
- Sandy Griffin (1858-1926), American baseball player
- Simon Goodell Griffin (1824–1902), American soldier
- Steve Griffin (born 1964), American football player
- Susan Griffin (born 1943), American author
T
- Taylor Griffin (born 1986), American basketball player (and brother of Blake Griffin)
- Ted Griffin (born 1970), American screenwriter
- Thomas Griffin (politician) (1773–1837), American politician, lawyer and judge
Thomas Griffin (born 2003) awesome person
- Tom Griffin (disambiguation), several people
- Tyson Griffin (born 1984), American martial artist
- Todd Griffin, American musician
Tyson Griffin (born 1978) Custom American motorcycle builder
V
- Victor Griffin (b. 1924), Irish Anglican priest and author
- Victor William Griffin (ca. 1873–1958), Quapaw chief and peyote roadman from Oklahoma
W
- W. E. B. Griffin (born 1929), American author
- Walter Burley Griffin (1878–1937), American architect and landscape architect most famous for planning Canberra
- William Richard Griffin (1882-1944), American auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse
- William Michael Griffin (born 1968), Hip-Hop MC known as Rakim
Fictional characters surnamed Griffin
- The Griffin family of Family Guy:
- Peter Griffin, father
- Lois Griffin, mother
- Meg Griffin, daughter and oldest child
- Chris Griffin, older son
- Stewie Griffin, younger son
- Brian Griffin, anthropomorphic pet dog
- Francis Griffin, Peter's (adoptive) father
- Thelma Griffin, Peter's mother
- Bertram Griffin, Peter's biological son (though not raised in the Griffin household)
- Griffin (The Invisible Man) (Jack Griffin), fictional character; H. G. Wells's The Invisible Man ("Jack" only in film versions)
- Judge Griffin, a character in the Judge Dredd comic strip
- Maya Griffin, a character in The O.C.
- Kylie Griffin, a character in Extreme Ghostbusters and in the IDW Ghostbusters ongoing comic series.
- Ric Griffin Fictitious Holby City character played by actor Hugh Quarshie
- Sandi Griffin, a character in the animated series Daria
References
- "Surname Map for Griffin in Britain, Ireland and Mann." (map). CelticFamilyMaps.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- 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
See also
- Griffin, Griffin (disambiguation)
- Griffin Theatre Company
- Griffin Poetry Prize
- Griffith (surname)
- Webster Griffin Tarpley, journalist