Explore the Family Name Cuffe

The meaning of Cuffe

1. Irish: adopted for Gaelic Ó Doirnín, because dorn means ‘fist’. See Dornan and compare the English word cuff, which is first recorded with the sense ‘blow with the fist’ in 1570. 2. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Dhuibh, a lenited variant of McDuff. 3. English: variant of Cuff. In Ireland this is also found as an importation of the English name. 4. African American: variant of Cuffee.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Cuffe in the United States?

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname 'Cuffe' experienced a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 33,993 in terms of prevalence but fell to the rank of 35,057 by 2010, marking a drop of 3.13%. Despite this decrease in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Cuffe surname increased marginally from 632 in 2000 to 643 in 2010, an increment of 1.74%. However, when considering the proportion per 100,000 people, there was a minor decrease from 0.23 in 2000 to 0.22 in 2010, a change of -4.35%.

20002010Change
Rank#33,993#35,057-3.13%
Count6326431.74%
Proportion per 100k0.230.22-4.35%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Cuffe

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of people with the surname 'Cuffe' identified as White, though there was a slight decrease from 81.80% in 2000 to 79.32% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Black also saw a small drop, from 12.82% to 12.60%, over the same period. On the other hand, the number of individuals identifying with two or more races saw a significant increase from 2.06% in 2000 to 3.42% in 2010, indicating a growth of 66.02%. The Hispanic group also saw a considerable rise, from 1.90% to 3.11%, a 63.68% increase. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

20002010Change
White81.8%79.32%-3.03%
Black12.82%12.6%-1.72%
Two or More Races2.06%3.42%66.02%
Hispanic1.9%3.11%63.68%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%