Late 16C English Given Names: Notes on Griffith

Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names

Notes on the name Griffith


Griffith: Griffin is a common English form of Gruffudd; it persisted in the English courts, often at the expense of Griffith (MM, 104). The data in PCCA include the instance Griffith or Griffin Geathen, of Llanward Waterdenye, Shropshire. Geathen represents the Welsh byname cethin `ruddy, dark, swarthy; fierce, ugly, hideous', lenited to gethin; see MM at Cethin. Of the 14 entries for the surname Griffith, 10 are from Wales; but of the four instance of Griffin as a surname, two are from Kent and Surrey in the southeast. The other two are from Gloucestershire and Somerset, near but not in Wales. See DES at Griffin.


Talan Gwynek, Fause Losenge Herald Extraordinary
(Brian M. Scott, scott@math.csuohio.edu)
© 1994, 1999 by Brian M. Scott; all rights reserved.
Revised 24 Aug 1999

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