Cuffe Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Cuffe Family History

Cuffe Family History

The ancient origin of the name Cuffe was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Surnames developed a wide number of variants over the centuries. Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Cuffe include Cuff, Cuf and Couf. This is an ancient occupational name describing a maker of gloves, or alternatively it can describe a frequent wearer of gloves. In Cornwall these names are also used as a nickname to describe a dear or loving person. In Ireland the name is derived form a number of distinct Gaelic septs.

A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. It is also the case that many Irish septs or clans that are related often belong to a larger groups, sometimes called tribes. For example the 'Tribes of Galway' consisted of fourteen distinct families. The 'Tribes of Kilkenny' were ten families, etc.

When derived from the MacDhuibh sept this refers to an Ulster province sept, ultimately of Scottish origin. When derived from the O'Duirnin sept it refers to a County Antrim sept where the town of Ballydurnian marks their existence. In modern times Cuff and Cuffe are found throughout Ulster as well as in Dublin. The Cuffe family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Cuffe descendants.