13-523: Godefroy is a surname of Old French origin, and originally a given name, cognate with Geoffrey /Geoffroy/ Jeffrey /Jeffries, Godfrey , Gottfried , etc. Godefroy or Godefroi may refer to: Geoffrey (name) Geoffrey is an English and German masculine given name. It is generally considered the Anglo-Norman form of the Germanic compound *gudą 'god' and *friþuz 'peace'. It
26-481: A meaning of "peace, protection". The first element god- is conflated from two, or possibly three, distinct roots, ie got and possibly *gaut , in origin a tribal name ( Geats , Goths ) or a theonym (a byname of Wotan ). Albert Dauzat (1951, rev. ed. 1980) followed by others, argued that the Middle French name Geoffrey in fact retains a distinction between two Germanic names which became conflated in
39-595: Is a loanword derived from the name of the Celtic tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae (in the writings of Julius Caesar ) and to the Greeks as Οὐόλκαι Ouólkai ( Strabo and Ptolemy ). The Volcae tribe occupied territory neighbouring that of the Germanic people and seem to have been referred to by the proto-Germanic name * Walhaz (plural * Walhōz , adjectival form * walhiska- ). It
52-621: Is a derivative of Dutch Godfried , German Gottfried and Old English Gotfrith and Godfrith . Alexander Macbain considered it as being found in the Gaelic and Welsh forms; potentially before or contemporary to the Anglo-Saxon, with the examples of Goraidh , Middle Gaelic Gofraig (1467 MS.), Godfrey (do.), Irish Gofraidh (F.M.), Middle Irish Gothfrith , Gofraig (Tigernach, 989), Early Irish Gothfraid (Lib. Lein.), E. Welsh Gothrit (Ann. Camb.). Macbain suggested these Celtic forms of
65-534: Is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic word meaning 'foreigner', or more specifically 'Roman', 'Romance-speaker' or '(romanized) Celt', and survives in the English words of ' Wales / Welsh ' and ' Cornwall .' The term was used by the ancient Germanic peoples to describe inhabitants of the former Roman Empire , who were largely romanised and spoke Latin languages (cf. Valland in Old Norse ). The adjectival form
78-486: Is also a patronymic version of the given name. The Old French form of the name was Geoffrei [dʒɔfrej] , which developed into West Middle French Geoffrey and East Middle French Geoffroy . Latinised forms include Jotfredus , Jozsfredus , Josfredus (10th century) and Jof[f]redus , Jofridus , Jaufredus , Geffredus (11th century). The original spelling with Jo- was modified in Geo- . The graphic e after G
91-580: Is assumed that this term specifically referred to the Volcae , because application of Grimm's law to that word produces the form * Walh- . Subsequently, this term * Walhōz was applied rather indiscriminately to the southern neighbours of the Germanic people, as evidenced in geographic names such as Walchgau and Walchensee in Bavaria or Walensee in Switzerland. Place names containing
104-554: Is attested in Old Norse valskr , meaning 'French'; Old High German walhisc , meaning 'Romance'; New High German welsch , used in Switzerland and South Tyrol for Romance speakers; Dutch Waals ' Walloon '; Old English welisċ , wælisċ , wilisċ , meaning ' Brythonic '. The forms of these words imply that they are descended from a Proto-Germanic form *walhiska- . * Walhaz
117-532: Is used in French to avoid the pronunciation [ɡo] , but [ʒɔ] instead. The spelling Geo- is probably due to the influence of the first name Georges , derived from Old French Jorre , Joire . The Old Frankish name Godefrid itself is from the Germanic elements god- and frid- . The Middle Latin form is Godefridus (whence also Godfrey ). The second element is widely used in Germanic names , and has
130-745: The Middle Ages. According to this argument, Godfrey continues *goda-friþu- , while Geoffroy continues *gaut-friþu- . If a strictly phonetic development is assumed, Geoffrey cannot be derived from Godfrid , as *go- would result in Old French go- [ɡɔ] and not geo- ( jo- , [dʒɔ] ), ie goda-fridu would yield Godefroy [ɡodfrwa] but not Geoffroy . On the other hand, *gau- [ɡaw] would regularly result in jo- ( geo- [dʒɔ] ), i.e *gaut-fridu- would regularly result in Geoffroy [dʒɔf:rwa] . Alternative suggestions which would derive
143-756: The element *walhaz denote communities or enclaves in the Germanic-speaking world where Romance was spoken. In Old English, *:walhaz developed into wealh, retaining the inherited meaning ‘a foreigner, more particularly a pre-Anglo-Saxon inhabitant of Britain who spoke Celtic or Latin or both’. It also came to imply the 'social position of the British natives that in the West Saxon dialect of Old English' came to mean ‘(British) slave’. The old feminine derivative of *walhaz, Old English wiln < *wielen < * wealh-in-, even exclusively means ‘a female slave’ and
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#1732787962177156-477: The first element from Germanic gisal- 'hostage', or w(e)alah 'Gallo-Roman; stranger' are also rejected by Dauzat as phonetically impossible: gi would have resulted in Old French [dʒi] (Modern French [ʒi] ), as in Gisalbert > Gilbert (ie *Gisalfrid > *Giffrey ), and *w(e)alh- would have resulted in *gaul- [ɡol] (ie *Wealhfrid > *Gaulfrey , *Gauffrey ). Walhaz * Walhaz
169-795: The name were closer related to the Anglo-Saxon Godefrid than the Norse Goðröðr , Gudrød or Góröðr ; however he does not elaborate further on the origin or relation. The form as 'Geoffrey' was probably introduced to Norman England . It was also Anglicised as Jeffrey later. Popularity of the name declined after the medieval period, but it was revived in modern England and the British Empire at large. Modern hypocorisms include Geoff or Jeff . Jeffrey and its variants are found as surnames, usually ending in -s (e.g. Jefferies , Jaffrays ); The surname Jefferson
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