Where does “Jefferson” come from?

Jefferson derives from English Jeffrey, which comes from Old French Geoffroy, itself from Frankish *Gawafrid meaning "peaceful district" or "district of peace."

Jefferson (English): A two-dollar bill

Definitions

  1. A two-dollar bill

Ancestry of “Jefferson”, step by step

Jefferson traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Sơn

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishSơn—
2Middle Englishsoneson; soon; Alternative form of sonne
3Old Englishsōnaimmediately, at once
4Proto-West Germanicsān(ō)immediately
5Proto-Germanicsēna—
6Proto-Germanic*sa—
7Proto-Austronesian*əsa—
8Proto-Oceanic*isa—

via English Jeffrey

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishJeffreythe usual U.S. spelling of Geoffrey. Popular in the latter half of the 20th century
2EnglishGeoffrey—
3Middle EnglishGeffreyGeoffrey
4Old FrenchGeoffroi—
5Medieval LatinJotfredus—

Words derived from “Jefferson”

Every word from Proto-Oceanic *isa →Every word from Proto-Austronesian *əsa →Every word from Proto-Germanic *sa →