Humphreys
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Humphrey,” with especially strong historical use in Wales and western England.
The #2,593 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,220 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Humphreys comes from the medieval personal name Humphrey, which entered English through Norman French from a Germanic name. The personal name is usually explained as combining elements meaning “peace” and “support” or “protection,” though older scholarship sometimes gives slightly different analyses of the second element. As a surname, Humphreys means “son of Humphrey.”
History
Historical sources note Humphreys as a patronymic form of Humphrey and record it especially in western Britain. One late-19th-century survey says it is most common in North Wales and also frequent in Shropshire, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire. It remains a familiar Welsh and English surname, with several spelling variants in use.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname mapping treated Humphreys and Humphries as closely related local spelling forms, with Humphreys especially tied to the western side of Britain.
From the historical record
“180^ — Francisjoha Cator and Mary Ann Humphreys : St. Geo. Han. Sq. ii. 280. London, 12, i, o; Sheffidd, 1,0, 3; FhUadelphia, o, o, i. Catesby.— Local, * of Catesby,'”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)