Reiff
A surname with several possible Germanic roots, often linked to a place name or an old nickname form rather than one single clear origin.
The #8,010 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,757 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Reiff is a German surname with more than one plausible explanation. It may be related to a German word family behind forms like Reif, or to a place-name element seen in compounds such as Reiferscheid and Reiffenberg. Because the historical sources here only mention the name incidentally, the exact derivation of this spelling is not certain.
History
The name appears in Germanic surname material and seems to have circulated in areas where place-based surnames and short nickname forms were common. In English-speaking countries it is relatively uncommon, but it has been carried by immigrant families from German-speaking regions. The spelling Reiff is also close to other surnames such as Reif and Reiffen-, which can make family lines hard to separate in older records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The doubled -ff spelling is one reason this name can look at first glance like an English word surname, even though its most likely roots are Germanic.
From the historical record
“Eib, Eif. Old Germ. Hripo, Hriffo, 9tli cent. Eng. Kibb, Riff, To plunder. Cribb 1 Mod. Germ. Reibe, Reiff. French Revu, Ribou, RiF, RivAY, Riv4 HivAu, Crepy ? Crepe, Crepeau ? diminutives. Eng. RiBBECK, Repuke, Ripkey. Eng. Reffel, Revill,”
— The Teutonic Name-System applied to the family names of France, England and Germany