Explore the Family Name Gaffey

The meaning of Gaffey

Irish: shortened Anglicized form of McGaffey. Some characteristic forenames: Irish Brendan, John Patrick.

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

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

According to the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Gaffey has slightly declined in recent years. In 2000, Gaffey ranked 23,940 in terms of popularity and by 2010, it had slipped to a ranking of 26,067 - a change of -8.88%. The total count of individuals with the surname Gaffey also decreased over this decade, dropping from 984 individuals in 2000 to 940 individuals in 2010. This represents a decrease of -4.47%. The proportion of people with the surname Gaffey per 100k also saw an -11.11% decrease between these years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#23,940	#26,067	-8.88%
Count	984	940	-4.47%
Proportion per 100k	0.36	0.32	-11.11%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gaffey

The ethnicity associated with the surname Gaffey, based on the Decennial U.S. Census, is predominantly White, accounting for 96.04% of Gaffeys in 2000 and 94.68% in 2010. However, there was a slight increase in the proportion of individuals identifying as Two or more races and those identifying as Hispanic over this decade. The percentage of Gaffeys identifying as Two or more races increased from 1.02% in 2000 to 2.34% in 2010, a change of 129.41%. The representation of Hispanics increased from 1.83% to 2.23%, marking a 21.86% growth. Meanwhile, those identifying as Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian and Alaskan Native were either nonexistent or suppressed for privacy in the data set.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.04%	94.68%	-1.42%
Two or More Races	1.02%	2.34%	129.41%
Hispanic	1.83%	2.23%	21.86%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0.81%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%