Gaffney is a surname common to the region of Cavan in Ireland, and now spread across other English-speaking nations. Gaffney comes from the Gaelic

sept A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ...

s of Ó Gamhna, Mac Conghamhna and Ó Caibheanaigh. Gaffney more commonly does not appear with the Gaelic prefixes of O' or Mc but there have been Gaffneys recorded with either of the Gaelic prefixes. In

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

context the surname Gaffney (Hebrew: גפני, alternative English spellings: Gafni/Gafny) is used for

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

people whose ancestors were

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

makers as "Geffen" (גפן) is the Hebrew word for

vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

. Notable people with the surname include: *

Beryl Gaffney Beryl Gaffney (born April 1, 1930) is a Canadian former politician and public servant. She served as a city councillor in Nepean, Ontario from 1978 to 1988 serving concurrently on the council of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. Born ...

(born 1930), Canadian politician * Christopher Gaffney (bishop) (died 1576), Irish bishop * Chris Gaffney (musician) (1950–2008), American singer–songwriter *

Christopher Gaffney (archaeologist) Christopher F. Gaffney (born 14 June 1962) is a British archaeological geophysicist and is currently Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Bradford. Gaffney's research interests are based on understanding how geop ...

(born 1962), British archaeologist *

Chris Gaffaney Christopher Blair Gaffaney (born 30 November 1975) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played for the Otago Volts. A right-handed batsman, he played in 83 First-Class matches and 113 List-A matches. At present he serves as an international ...

(born 1975), New Zealand cricketer * David Gaffney (born 1961), British writer *

Dean Gaffney Dean Martin Gaffney (born 14 February 1978) is an English actor, known for his role as Robbie Jackson on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1993 to 2003 and 2017 to 2019; he also made guest appearances in 2004, 2010 and 2015. In 2006, he ...

(born 1978), British actor *

Derrick Gaffney Derrick Tyrone Gaffney (born May 24, 1955) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Gaffney played college footba ...

(born 1955), American football player * Edward Gaffney (born 1943), American politician *

Elizabeth Gaffney Elizabeth Gaffney (born New York City, December 22, 1966) is an American novelist. She graduated from Vassar College and holds an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. She is the founder of the virtual writers spacThe 24-Hour Room the editor a ...

(born 1966), American novelist *

Eric Gaffney Eric Gaffney (born December 25, 1967, in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American songwriter and recording artist, and has been home recording on cassette since 1981. An active participant in the Western Mass hardcore scene, in 1983 he founded ...

, American songwriter *

Eugene S. Gaffney Eugene S. Gaffney is an American paleontologist and leading authority on the morphology and evolutionary history of turtles. Biography Gaffney graduated from Rutgers University, Rutgers State University in 1965 and received his PhD in 1969 with a ...

, American paleontologist *

F. Drew Gaffney Francis Andrew "Drew" Gaffney is an American doctor. He previously worked for NASA and participated in the STS-40 Space Life Sciences (SLS 1) Space Shuttle mission in 1991 as a payload specialist. Gaffney was a co-investigator on an experime ...

, American doctor *

Frank Gaffney Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist and the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy. In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked for the federal government in multiple posts, including ...

(born 1953), American lobbyist * Frank Gaffney (Medal of Honor) (1883–1948), American soldier * Jabar Gaffney (born 1980), American football player *

James Anthony Gaffney James Anthony "Tony" Gaffney, CBE, FICE, FREng, FCIHT (1928–2016) was a British civil engineer. Gaffney was born in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales in 1928 and holds BSc and DSc degrees.. He was the County Engineer for the West Rid ...

, British civil engineer *

James E. Gaffney James Edward Gaffney (March 7, 1868 – August 17, 1932) was the owner of the Boston Braves of the National League from , when he purchased the club from the estate of William Hepburn Russell, to , when he sold the franchise to Percy Haughton. G ...

(1868–1932), American baseball executive *

Jim Gaffney James Thomas Gaffney, Jr. (April 26, 1921 – August 9, 2015) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins in 1945 and 1946. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and was ...

(born 1921), American football player *

John Gaffney John H. Gaffney (June 29, 1855 – August 8, 1913), nicknamed the "King of Umpires" and "Honest John" was an American umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. He was baseball's first great umpire, and played a pioneering role in the use of m ...

(1855–1913), American baseball umpire and manager *

Kiley Gaffney Kiley Joy Gaffney is an Australian rock musician and performance artist. Before signing to Warner (WEA) in 1995, she worked in theatre (acting and singing) and the art world (performance). She released two albums with Warner, ''Bitter Fluff'' ...

, Australian musician *

Mason Gaffney Merrill Mason Gaffney (October 18, 1923 – July 16, 2020) was an American economist and a major critic of Neoclassical economics from a Georgist point of view. Gaffney first read Henry George's masterwork ''Progress and Poverty'' as a high schoo ...

, (1923–2020), American economist *

Matt Gaffney Matt Gaffney is a professional crossword puzzle constructor and author who lives in Staunton, Virginia. His puzzles have appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine, the ''Chicago Tribune'', the ''Daily Beast'', ''Dell Champion Crossword Puzzles'', '' ...

, (born 1972), American crossword puzzle constructor *

Mo Gaffney Maureen E. Gaffney (born November 5, 1958, in San Diego, California) is an American actress and activist. Career Gaffney hosted two of her own television talk shows: ''Women Aloud!'' (which was shown on the Comedy Central network) and ''The Mo ...

(born 1958), American actress *

Patricia Gaffney Patricia Gaffney is an American writer of romance novels and women's fiction novels. Biography Patricia Gaffney was born on December 27, 1944, in Tampa, Florida, United States. She is the daughter of Joem and Jim Gaffney. She and her brother, ...

, American writer * Robert J. Gaffney, American politician * Robbie Gaffney (born 1957), Irish football player * Rose Gaffney (1895–1979), American environmental activist *

Tony Gaffney Anthony Joseph Gaffney, Jr. (born November 14, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who most recently played for Ironi Nahariya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, Israeli Premier League. He played college basketball ...

(born 1984), American basketball player

See also