Origin of Surname
This surname is of some considerable antiquity and was introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It has two possible origins, the first of which is as the Anglicized form of the Germanic personal name "Gebhardt", composed of the elements "geb", meaning "gift" and "hard", meaning "brave", "hardy" or "strong". The popularity of St Gebhardt, Bishop of Constance at the end of the 10th Century, contributed to the continued use of the given name into the Middle Ages.
The second possible origin is from the Old French "Giffard", used as a nickname for someone thought to be "chubby-cheeked", a derivative of the Germanic word "giffel", "cheek".
The name is common today in Normandy and records there go back to Walterius Gyfardus in 1037, Walterus Gifardus in 1046, and Galterius Giffart in 1066.
Early records
The name does not appear to have occurred so early in Jersey. It apppears in the Extente of 1528 and Jacquet, Jeffrey, Johan, Robyn and Katherine are all mentioned in the Jersey Chantry Certificate of 1550
- Guillaume Giffard was born in Grouville about 1473. He was probably the brother of Jean (1475- ) and the son of another Jean
- Thomas Giffard was born in Trinity about 1574, and was the father of Catherine (1600- ) who married John Cabot, and probably of Marie (1604- ) who married Alexis de la Haye
- Jacques Gifford was born in St Saviour about 1576 and married Elizabeth Dolbel in 1603
- Bregitte Giffard was born in Trinity about 1566
- Richard Giffard was born in Grouville about 1581 and married Catherine Neel
Variants
Although the spelling Giffard is by far the most common in Jersey, Gifford is also found in records which probably belong to the same family.
- Giffard, 1668
- Giffert 1607
- Gyffart 1528
- Giford
- Giffart
- Gifhard
- Geffard
- Gifford
Family records
Family trees
- Descendants of Jean Giffard
- Descendants of Pierre Giffard
- Descendants of Jean Giffard and Marie Machon
- Descendants of Francois Giffard
- Descendants of Francois Giffard - 2
- Giffards of Trinity
- Descendants of Nicolas Giffard
Church records
- Giffard baptisms in Jersey
- Giffard marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Giffard marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Giffard burials in Jersey
Great War service
Sons of Edward Sidney Giffard and Alice Ann Le Breton
- Edward P Giffard MM (1885-1915) son of Edward and Alice of St Clement, ex-RMIJ, Rifleman, Royal Irish Rifles
- Presentation to Edward Giffard at the Town Hall
- Percival Edwin Giffard (1899- ) (St C) husband of Winifred May Le Quelenec, Private, Worcestershire Regiment
- Sydney Edward Giffard (1896-1967)(St C) ex-RMIJ, Driver, RFA
- Reginald William Alfred Giffard (1900- )(St H) son of William Charles Frederick and Ada Selina Bouchard, Private, Devonshire Regiment
Occupation records
Family wills
Burial records
Family homes
Family album
Mrs Giffard photographed by Ernest Baudoux
Philip Giffard (1817-1893),photographed by Ernest Baudoux
Master's Certificate of Jean Giffard, born in St Peter in 1821, and married to Elizabeth Marie Bisson in 1846. The couple had four children
Mrs Harriet Gifford photographed by Ernest Baudoux
Mary Ann (Patty) Pallot, nee Giffard (1847-1936)
Family gravestones
Click on any image to see a larger version. See the Jerripedia gravestone image collection page for more information about our gravestone photographs
Tips
The church record links above will open in a new tab in your browser and generate the most up-to-date list of each set of records from our database. These lists replace earlier Family page baptism lists, which were not regularly updated. They have the added advantage that they produce a chronological listing for the family name in all parishes, so you do not have to search through A-Z indexes, parish by parish.
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New records
Since August 2020 we have added several thousand new records from the registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These will appear in date order within a general search of the records and are also individually searchable within the database search form
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