Riff: Last Name Origin and Family Crest

In census returns, Riff often stands in for Reif. The family name meaning is “Descendant of Rifo, a pet form of Ricfrid (rule, peace)”, the same as for Reif. Before spelling was fixed, Reif was also written Riff. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists.

According to the 2010 US Census, the Riff surname had 372 bearers. From 1891 to 2000, 1,607 births in France were registered under Riff.

Arms linked to Reif and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to. For the full story, order the Riff surname pack.