# Duff (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/duff/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 16,536 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,202 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 18,671 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.6% (16,119 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /dʌf/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, from dubh (“dark”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Duff in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 86% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Duff in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the United Kingdom and Australia.

## People named Duff

- Hilary Duff, American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and writer (born 1987)
- Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
- Anne-Marie Duff, British actress
- Howard Duff, American actor (1913–1990)
- James H. Duff, American politician (1883-1969)
- John Duff, (1895-1958) racing driver
- Jamal Duff, American actor and former American football player
- Lyman Duff, 8th Chief Justice of Canada (1865–1955)
- Tom Duff, American computer programmer
- Reggie Duff, Australian cricketer (1878-1911)
- Mary Ann Duff, British actress
- Beauchamp Duff, British Army general

## Similar surnames

Duffy, Duffey, Duffie, Dove, Dube, Davey, Diep, Dave, Devoe, Depew, Dupuy, Davy.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.