The Tiffany surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,871 people carried this name — #6,900 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 60,600 people counted. That is up 1% from 4,840 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Tiffany surname

From Old French Tifinie, Tiphanie, from Latin Theophania (“Epiphany”), from Ancient Greek θεο- (theo-, “god”) (combining form of θεός (theós, “god”)) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to shine, appear”). The given name (from circa 12th century) was usually given to girls born at Epiphany. The surname (from late 13th century) is a dialectal variant of the surname Tiffin, which derives from the given name variant Tiffania.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Tiffany» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Theophania’.

His entry covers Tiffany, Tiffen and Tiffin.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 750 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

51 families named Tiffany, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 286 people lived in those households, 5.6 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 4 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 19
Connecticut 12
New York 11
New Hampshire 3
Rhode Island 3
Maine 2
Vermont 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 265 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Tiffany in American newspapers,
1893–1918.

Newspaper page from The Anaconda Standard carrying the name Tiffany
The Anaconda Standard 1893-03-19
Newspaper page from The St. Mary Banner carrying the name Tiffany
The St. Mary Banner 1907-11-09
Newspaper page from Daily Kennebec Journal carrying the name Tiffany
Daily Kennebec Journal 1918-05-16

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 132,187 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Tiffany in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1990s.

385 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Tiffany. The most, 109, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 156
Victoria 75
South Australia 53
Western Australia 39
Queensland 31
Tasmania 16
ACT (Canberra) 12

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Tiffany.

Who carried it

People named Tiffany,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Charles Lewis Tiffany
    Charles Lewis Tiffany 1812–1902 · entrepreneur
  • James Tiffany 1666–1732
  • Hannah Tiffany Swetland 1740–1809
  • Joseph Tiffany 1764–1850
  • Comfort Tiffany 1777–1843
  • Comfort Tiffany 1797–1879

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Tiffany,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States657 records

657 records of the Tiffany name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 182
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 143
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 134
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 90
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 87
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 15
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 1
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record John J. Tiffany

    Born 1923 in New York. Enlisted 1943 at New York City; route man from New York County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1965, buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record David L. Tiffany

    Born 1949; from Riverside, California. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1969 in Long An, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Francis Tiffany

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Aurania from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 40; merchant. From London, England; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 657 records for Tiffany in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia9 records

9 records of the Tiffany name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 7
  • State Library of Western Australia indexes 1
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Ellen Tiffany

    Arrived in Victoria in 1855 aboard the Lightning, aged 29; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record G. W. M.C. Tiffany

    Second Lieutenant. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Biographical index Washington Tiffany

    In the Western Australian Biographical Index; born 1853.

    State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 9 records for Tiffany in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom3 records

3 records of the Tiffany name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record H. Tiffany

    Royal Army Medical Corps. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record S. Tiffany

    Gunner, Royal Sussex Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 2 of 3 records for Tiffany in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Tiffany.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Tiffany is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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