Frequency: (675)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. German: habitational name from a house distinguished by the sign of a gryphon, Middle High German grīf(e) (Old High German grīf(o), from Late Latin gryphus, Greek gryps, of Assyrian origin).
2. German: nickname for a grasping man, the gryphon in folk etymology having come to be associated with Middle High German grīfen ‘to grasp or snatch’.
3. English: variant of Grief.
GIVEN NAMES: Jewish 4%. Arnon (2), Emanuel (2), Aron, Avner, Hyman, Igal, Meyer.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
