Where Does the Daufin Surname Come From?

Bearers of the name Daufin share their surname's story with Dauphin, its better-known spelling. Read literally, Daufin points to “The dolphin”.

Spelled with “f” instead of “ph”, Daufin shows how the same name was heard and written differently. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists. The same family of names includes Dauphine.

A coat of arms belongs to a particular family line rather than to everyone named Daufin, so the heraldry linked to Dauphin is a starting point, not an automatic right. Want more than a summary? See the Daufin family name pack.