Recorded as Beaufoy, Boffey, Buffey, Buffy and others, this is now regarded as an English surname, but one of early French origins. It is locational and is said to originate from the village of Beaufour in the department of Calvados. The first name holders were followers of William, Duke of Normandy in 1066, and they must have 'proved' themselves probably in battle because they were awarded the estates of dead Anglo-Saxons in Norfolk and Suffolk in the years that followed. The first known name holder was Ralph de Belfago as spelt in 1086, whilst William de Belfou was recorded in Norfolk in 1114. The name obviously moved some considerable distances because in 1214 we find the recording of Emma de Beufey in the pipe rolls of the city of Nottingham. Other early examples showing the surname development over the centures include Thomas Buffy in the Hundred rolls of Oxfordshire in 1276, and William Bouffaye of Huntingdon, in the tax rolls of that county in 1544.

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