Geoff
A name of Old German origin meaning "prosperous peace".
Name Census estimates that about 1,348 living Americans carry the first name Geoff. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Geoff today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Geoff births was 1962 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Geoff. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Geoff with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 254,269 Americans
Peak year
1962
65 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2016 SSA rank
#11,183
Tracked since 1940
Census
Geoff in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,989 people with the first name Geoff, which placed it at #3,468 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,468
National first-name rank
People counted
6.0K
5,989 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Geoff
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geoff is White at 89.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Geoff described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Geoff at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.6% · 5,367
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 166
- Two or more races2.7% · 162
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 148
- Black or African American2.0% · 118
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 28
Popularity
Geoff: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Geoff from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 493 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Geoff by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Geoff during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Geoffs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Geoff, while Oregon, Michigan, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Geoff
The given name Geoff is an English diminutive form of the name Geoffrey, which originated from the Old French name Geffrei. This name ultimately derives from the Germanic personal name Godafrid, composed of the elements "god" meaning "god" and "frid" meaning "peace." Thus, the name Geoffrey can be interpreted as meaning "God's peace" or "peaceful among the gods."
The name Geoffrey first gained widespread use in England after the Norman Conquest in 1066, as it was introduced by Norman settlers. It became a popular name among the Anglo-Norman aristocracy and was later adopted by the English nobility and gentry. Over time, the shortened form "Geoff" emerged as a familiar diminutive.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Geoffrey can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of landowners in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Geffrei," reflecting its Norman French origins.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Geoff or its variants. One of the most famous was Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095-1155), a British cleric and one of the major figures in the development of the Arthurian legend. His influential work, "Historia Regum Britanniae" (History of the Kings of Britain), popularized the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Another prominent figure was Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400), widely regarded as the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. His masterpiece, "The Canterbury Tales," is considered one of the most important works in English literature. Chaucer's use of the vernacular English language and his vivid depictions of contemporary life in medieval England have had a lasting impact on the English literary tradition.
In the realm of science, Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor (1886-1975) was a renowned British physicist and mathematician. He made significant contributions to the fields of fluid mechanics, turbulence, and combustion theory. Taylor's work laid the foundation for modern research in these areas and earned him numerous honors, including the Royal Medal of the Royal Society.
Geoffrey Boycott (born 1940) is a former English cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England. Known for his dogged batting style and defensive approach, he was one of the most successful opening batsmen of his era. Boycott was knighted in 2003 for his services to cricket.
Finally, Geoffrey Rush (born 1951) is an Australian actor renowned for his versatility and critically acclaimed performances. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in the 1996 film "Shine." Rush has also received numerous other accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Film Award, cementing his status as one of the finest actors of his generation.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Geoff
People
Geoff + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Geoff as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Geoff: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Geoff?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,348 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Geoff going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 254,269 US residents.
Is Geoff a common name?
We classify Geoff as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,549 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Geoff most popular?
The single biggest year for Geoff was 1962, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Geoff is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Geoff in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,989 people with the name Geoff, or 1.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,468 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Geoff in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Geoff?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geoff appears almost entirely male. Of the 5,986 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Geoff?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geoff is White at 89.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Geoff most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Geoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.6% (5,367 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Geoff in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Geoff a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Geoff in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Geoff still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Geoff in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Geoff can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Geoff?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Geoff, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.