Gafford meaning | Last name Gafford origin

Gafford is the variation of Giffard. Liberal, as Gebhart and Gevers.

Gafford is the form of Gifford. Descendant of Giffard meaning "give, bold"; one with fat cheeks.

The surname Gafford is the form of Gifford. The old historical Giffards of Normandy and England descended from the De Bollebecs, who were connected by marriage with Richard I., Duke of Normandy. Walter, son of Osborne de Bollebec, though surnamed "Giffard," or "the Liberal," seems also to have been conserratire in the acquisition and retention of lands; for he got not only the fair domain of Longueville, near Dieppe, from Richard II. of Normandy, who created him Count de Longueville, but also the Earldom of Buckingham, with above a hundred manors in various counties of England, from William I., whom he had accompanied to the Conquest of this country. In Leland'stime there were four "notable houses" of Gifford remaining in England, in the counties of Devon, Southampton, Stafford, and Buckingham. At the present time the only one of these existing is the Staffordshire family, whose ancestor married the heiress of Corbosone, temp. King Stephen, and thus became Lord of Chillington, which has ever since been theabode ofhis posterity.