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Origin / History of the Quaife Name

This most interesting and unusual name is of Old French origin, introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. Indeed, some members of the Quaif(e) or Coyfe family claim descent from a Coyfe who came over with the Conqueror, and wore a hood instead of a helmet at Hastings. The name derives from the Old French term ‘coif’, close-fitting cap, coif, and may have been either a nickname or a metonymic occupational surname. As a nickname, the term would have been used for someone who habitually wore a hood or coif, and as an occupational name, for a maker of such caps or hoods.  The modern surname can be found as Quaif, Quaife, Quoif, Coyf and Coyfe, and is still found most frequently in the Channel counties of Kent and Sussex.

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