The Winfrey surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,740 people carried this name — #5,187 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 43,900 people counted. That is up 3% from 6,518 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Winfrey surname

A surname transferred from the given name.

From a medieval variant of Winfred.

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

In print

Winfrey in American newspapers,
1901–1917.

Newspaper page from The Sunday Globe carrying the name Winfrey
The Sunday Globe 1901-05-12
Newspaper page from The Richmond Palladium And Sun-telegram carrying the name Winfrey
The Richmond Palladium And Sun-telegram 1917-04-16
Newspaper page from Richmond Daily Palladium carrying the name Winfrey
Richmond Daily Palladium 1904-01-15

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 387 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Winfrey in Australian newspapers,
1890s–1950s.

127 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Winfrey. The most, 46, date from the 1900s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 60
Queensland 17
South Australia 15
Victoria 15
Tasmania 9
Western Australia 9
ACT (Canberra) 1

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

Who carried it

People named Winfrey,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Richard Winfrey 1858–1944 · politician
  • Richard Winfrey 1858–1944 · politician
  • Elisha William Winfrey 1858–1931
  • Sanford Elias Winfrey 1871–
  • Sanford Elias Winfrey 1872–
  • Ella Winfrey 1874–1946

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Winfrey,
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 States385 records

385 records of the Winfrey name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 225
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 122
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 25
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 5
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 5
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 2
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Douglas Nelson Winfrey

    Born 1944; from Smyrna, Georgia. U.S. Army, field artillery unit commander; died in an accident 1970 in Thua Thien, South Vietnam. Buried at Marietta National Cemetery, Georgia.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Raybon H. Winfrey

    Born 1918 in Texas. Enlisted 1941 at Hattiesburg, Mississippi; farm hand from Rusk County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1974, buried at Houston National Cemetery, Texas.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Jerry Winfrey

    U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. Born 1933, died 1976; buried at Wood National Cemetery, Wisconsin.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 385 records for Winfrey in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Australia2 records

2 records of the Winfrey name in Australia Tasmanian Names Index
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Winfrey

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Pestongee Bomangee, sailing from Plymouth in 1852. Native of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Jean Winfrey

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Pestongee Bomangee, sailing from Plymouth in 1852. Native of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada1 record

1 record of the Winfrey name in Canada Canadian Virtual War Memorial
  1. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record John Ross Winfrey

    Died in service in 1945.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Counts: Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Winfrey.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Winfrey 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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