Explore the Family Name Quaife

The meaning of Quaife

1. Irish and Manx: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Caoimh (see O’Keefe). Gaelic c followed by a, o, or u is often Anglicized as q in Manx. 2. English (Sussex): of Norman origin, a nickname from Old French coif ‘coif’, a kind of close-fitting cap, presumably denoting someone who was a maker or habitual wearer of such caps.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Quaife held a position of 89,172 in popularity in the year 2000 and recorded a slight decrease in 2010, shifting to the 90,495th rank. This represents a change of -1.48%. Despite this drop in rank, the number of individuals with the Quaife surname increased by 5.7%, from 193 in 2000 to 204 in 2010. The proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 remained steady at 0.07 during both census years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#89,172	#90,495	-1.48%
Count	193	204	5.7%
Proportion per 100k	0.07	0.07	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Quaife

Turning to the ethnic identity of those bearing the surname Quaife, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that it is overwhelmingly associated with individuals identifying as White. In 2000, 94.82% of individuals with the surname identified as White, a figure that experienced a minimal change of -0.22% to 94.61% in 2010. A small percentage (2.59%) were classified as Hispanic in 2000; however, this count was suppressed in the 2010 census for privacy reasons. No individuals with this surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.82%	94.61%	-0.22%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	2.59%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%