# Gaffney (surname)

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

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 12,805 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,819 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 24,111 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.7% (12,469 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Gaffaney, Goffney |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Gamhna (“descendant of Gamhain”), a byname from gamhain (“calf”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Gaffney 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) | 83% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 12% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Gaffney in the United States.

## People named Gaffney

- F. Drew Gaffney, American astronaut
- Tony Gaffney, American basketball player (born 1984)
- Frank Gaffney, American anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist (born 1953)
- Mason Gaffney, American economist (1923–2020)
- Mo Gaffney, American actress and comedian

## Similar surnames

Gavin, Giffin, Given, Govan, Gibney, Gauvin, Gobin, Gibbon, Givan, Giovanni, Goffin.

## 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.