The purpose of this study is to research and discover the origins of the British surname Jelf. To date, we have evidence of the Jelf name in England dating back to the late 1400's by virtue of the will of John Jelfe, yeoman, of Maisemore, Gloucestershire that was proved in 1500. The name was for many years concentrated in a small cluster of villages on the Gloucestershire and Worcestershire border. Much later, bearers of the names Jelf and Jelfs migrated and the names became established in Wales, Scotland, United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa. These moves make sense in terms of the changing role of Britain. What is curious and less expected is the incidence of the name Jelf in Sweden - forebears.io reports 14 incidences of the name in 2014. Are there any Swedish Jelf out there who know the history of the name in Sweden?

The earliest incidences of the name Jelf - in a form that is still recognizable today - that we have discovered so far are in 1522: In the Military Survey of Gloucestershire, we find the bearers of similar (related?) names including a Thomas Jelff (in Ashleworth), a Henry Gelfe and a Nicholas Gelfe (in Tirley) as well as a William Gelif (in Adlestrop) and a William Yelffe (in Ashleworth) and John Yelfe junior and John Yelfe senior (in Longney). 

Of course, a lot happened both before and after 1522 that would have influenced the evolution of the name as the English language itself evolved from Middle English to Early Modern English with changes in pronunciation and spelling. It's also possible that dialectal differences in England may have produced different versions of the name.  We intend to look at the main events which may have contributed to the evolution of the name Jelf and its distribution in the UK and internationally.

The registered variants for this study are: Gelf, Jelfe, Jelff, Jelfs, Jellffe, Jelph.

The principal variants that exist today are Jelf and Jelfs.  While they are distinct familes now, the two names almost certainly have a common heritage. However beyond the Jelf/Jelfs split, it seems clear that owing to the lack of standardized spelling used in early parish registers and other records, there were multiple variants of the name (and some evolved into distinct family names which still exist today). Variants identified to date include:

Gelf, Gelfe, Gelff, Gelfs

Jelfe, Jelff, Jelffe, Jellffe, Jeulfe, Jelph, Jelphe, Jelphs.

(Although we want to clarify this, we have read that the letter J was not introduced to the English alphabet until c.1524. This would account for early records using a spelling with a G).

Other possible variants - in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the 1500's at least - include:

Gealfes, Gelph, Jeffes, Jelleff, Julphes, Jelhff, Yealf, Yelf, Yelfe, Yelffe.

There are instances of individuals in the same small village being recorded in documents as bearing the names Jelfe and Yelf. For these two family names to be so similar but not related in some way seems unlikely. For example, John Yelf of Ashleworth in Gloucestershire is recorded as having a will (dated 1578) - similarly a John Jellfe of Ashleworth is also recorded as having a will(dated 1577). Even if these are different people, it seems that orthography is the likely cause of two different but similar names co-existing in the same village.

What this leads to is a broader question of whether the modern family names Jelf(s) (still largely a West Country name) and Yelf(s) (still largely a Hampshire name?) are descended from a common root.

In looking for the origins of the name, one theory is that the name is derived from Joliffe and its variants. We will explore this as part of the study. 

Early References to Variants or Names From Which Jelf May Derive

14th century: Thomas Golyf, Archer, [Naval Service (Keeping of the Sea), Captain: Guy de Brian (1314 - 1390) Lord Brian 13710616 Retinue list TNA, E101/31/11, No 2 m5] (Source: The Soldier in Later Medieval England (University of Southampton and Henley Business School))

15th century: William Jalif, Man-at Arms, Garrison of Honfleur, Commander: John Talbot, (1385 - 1453) Earl of Shrewsbury, 14370813, Muster Roll, BNF, MS. Fr. 25773, no. 1205 (Source: The Soldier in Later Medieval England)

John Jelyf is mentioned in 1454 in the will of Richard Manchestre, burgess of Gloucester, recorded in Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester.

John Jeolyf is mentioned in 1459 as a Bailiff and witness to a land grant by John Lymeryk dated 1 June, 1459 relating to land and tenements in Gloucester. (Source: Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester)

Martin Jelyf, chaplain of the cathedral church of St. Paul, London (and at the time 73 years old) and his son Richard Jelyf (a goldsmith) are mentioned in an account concerning a marriage in 1492 in London (Source: London Metropolitan Archives, MS DL/C/A/001/MS09065, 113r and the Consistory Database at http://consistory.cohds.ca/obj.php?p=1249)

The Jelph Variant

A search of Ancestry.com indicates that Jelph as a spelling does not appear in England until the 1600s. It seems likely that this resulted from changes in thinking about English orthography during the late Renaissance. At a time when false Greco-Latin etymologies were impacting English spelling, it seems that some parish officials made a choice to represent the /f/ sound in Jelf with a Greek-inspired /ph/ either because they thought it more elegant or "correct". The first English parish register entry was in 1646 when Jane Jelph, shown as the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Jelph, was baptised at St Nicholas in Gloucester on 19 July 1646. We found no earlier entry for Thomas Jelph's birth nor his marriage to Elizabeth that predates the baptism of their daughter Jane where we could verify it from the parish register image. There is an Ancestry record for the baptism of William Jelphs, son of Thomas Jelphs, in Temple Guiting, Gloucestershire on 5 February 1625. We have not been able to verify the spelling. Can anyone provide earlier image-verified instances of the Jelph name than 1646?

What's the status of the Jelph/Jelphs name now? According to forebears.io, there are 12 incidences of the name Jelphs in 2014 in the UK and 1 in the US. We plan to cross-reference this with other sources since this number seems extremely small. That said, there were only four incidences of Jelphs in England in 1881.

(Note:

(1) The Ancestry record for the baptism of Ales Jelphs (daughter of Richard Jelphs) in the Ashleworth parish register on 21 October 1607 was incorrectly transcribed (see FHL Film Number 991279 - it should be correctly Ales Gelffe).

(2) The Ancestry record for the marriage of Thomas Jelphs to Elizabeth Hitchcocks in London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921 on 5 September 1616 was incorrectly transcribed in that no s appears on the end of Thomas's surname.)

Variants by Combination

Jelf-Sharp, assumed by royal licence, by Captain Henry Sharp, the third son of Sir James Jelf, following his marriage in 1831 to Clarissa Amelia Sharp, daughter of Major Sharp of Kincarrochie, Perthshire. (Source: The Annual Biography: Being Lives of Eminent Or Remarkable Persons, who Have Died Within the Year 1842 by Charles Roger Dod) 

Jelf-Petit, assumed by deed poll by Louis William Petit, son of Rev. William Edward Jelf, fourth son of Sir James Jelf, and Maria Katherine Petit, in 1886. (Source: Armorial Families: A Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, Showing which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, 1899, by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies)

Jelf-Reveley, assumed by Edward Petit Jelf, eldest son of Rev, William Jelf, following his marriage in 1874 to Fanny Jane Reveley, eldest daughter of Hugh John Reveley of Bryn-y-gwyn. (Source: A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, Volume 2, 1898, by Bernard Burke)

Everyone - not just superheroes - has an "origin story". What is ours? Where does the name Jelf come from? Jelf is clearly a very old English surname that dates back several centuries. But how and where did the name first emerge? Is it Norse, Anglo-Saxon or Norman in origin?

Origin Theories

We can find no evidence that the name Jelf is patronymic, locative, topographical or occupational. Theories as to the origin of the name include:

1. Jelf is, together with various variants, derived from a Saxon name Ayloffe (from Richard Charnock in Ludus Patronymicus, 1868)
2. Jelf is derived from Jelliffe, itself derived from the Norse personal name Eilifr (meaning "enduring") (from Henry Barber in British Family Names, Second Edition, 1903). This was a different from what he had said in his 1898 edition, i.e., that Jelf was derived from the Norse personal name Jolfr and appeared in the Domesday Book as Jalf).
3. In A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames by C W Bardsley, 1901, Jelf nor any similar name appears. The closest are Joliff and Jeff.
4. "Jalf was the forbear of the Jelfs.” according to S. Gould in Family Names and Their Story, published in 1913, under Anglo Saxon Names (p.187). 
5. Jelf is derived from the French word "joli" meaning merry and lively and was originally given as a nickname (surnamedb.com)
6. Jelf is derived from the Old Norse word "jol" (meaning a midwinter festival when people celebrated the gradual lengthening of the days) (surnamedb.com)
7. Jelf is a variant of Jolliffe, being an English nickname from Middle English and Old French derived from jolif and joli (meaning gay or lively). This was the conclusion of the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, by Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates and Peter McClure, published in 2016 as the result of the FaNBI project at the University of West England. Its goal was to research the origins of family names throughout Britain and Ireland.

The Challenge with Determining Origin

It seems clear that some of the Victorian-era research on British family names is questionable and potentially misleading and unreliable. The Preface to A Dictionary of English Surnames by P H Reaney, 2005, includes this statement:  "Of previous dictionaries of surnames, Lower’s Patronymica Britannica (1860) is obviously out of date, Barber’s British Family Names (1902) is a mere collection of guesses unsupported by evidence, whilst Harrison’s Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912–18) only very occasionally gives any evidence and a large number of his etymologies are clearly based on the modern form. Still the most reliable is Bardsley, whose Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, published posthumously in 1901, firmly laid the foundations on which future study of surnames must be built. He insisted on the need for the collection of as many early examples of the surname as possible, dated and localized, on which the etymology must be based. These principles he put into practice, so far as he could, but he has suffered the inevitable fate of all pioneers. The last fifty years have seen an enormous increase in the material available in the publications of the Public Record Office, the Pipe Roll Society, county Record Societies, etc., much of it earlier than Bardsley’s basic source (the late thirteenth-century Hundred Rolls), with a steadily improving standard of editing. The same period has seen, too, a marked advance in our knowledge of the English language, particularly in the history of its dialects, personal names and place-names.” (attributed to Richard Mckinley in A History of British Surnames, 1990). Ironically, Jelf is not mentioned in Reaney's Dictionary so we do not know what he makes of Barber's theory concerning the name.

The Saxon Theory

In fact, there are two theories to the effect that Jelf is derived from a Saxon name:

1. Charnock's opionion in Ludus Patronymicus that it is derived from Ayloffe; and
2. Gould's opinion in Family Names and Their Story that it is derived from Jalf. 

Jalf: In the Appendix to Chapter IX in Gould's book, he lists Jalf as being one of the Anglo Saxon and Danish names in Domesday in Lincolnshire (p.411). In A General Introduction to Domesday Book by Henry Ellis, published in 1833, Jalf was identified in a footnote (p.386) that explains that eleven of the thirteen manors owned by Rainier de Brimov in Lincolnshire had been owned by a Saxon of the name of Jalf.

In England Under the Norman Occupation, published in 1858, James Morgan states "The single names of Englishmen entered in Domesday occasionally resemble modern family names. Hawart (GD 331) or Hofward (LD 264) is very like Howard; Baco (GD 340) may be Bacon; Leuesuna (LD 19. 58. 59. 403) is literally Leveson: others are noted in the margin." In the relevant footnote, Jalf is listed. Morgan does not go on to say which name he believes it resembles.

In Surname Book and Racial History published in 1918 by the Church of the Latter Day Saints, there is a statement that "Personal names later called Christian names - those simple individual names which were given by the Saxons to their children, were but for the life of him to whom they were attached - they died him and were not passed on to his descendants. The Saxons knew nothing of surnames as such. Many Saxon names became molded into surnames after William the Conqueror introduced the foundation habit of making surnames. Such names as Harold, Ethelreda, Edith and Ermentrude are all Saxon names. Osbern which came over from Juteland, Jalf, Juin or Juing which was the Norman scribe's spelling of Young, were common in those days." So are LDS saying that the name Jalf was a common Saxon personal name? And became a surname? If so, where or what is the evidence? Anyone know? 

In A Translation of of the Record Called Domesday So Far As Relates to The County of York etc by William Bawden (1809), Jalf is noted as having "fifteen oxgangs of land in Widcale (Withcall) and the third part of one oxgang to be taxed". (p.571) 

For more on Jalf, Jaul, Jaulf, http://www.pase.ac.uk/jsp/Domesday?op=5&nameinfo_id=2335

In A Numismatic History of the Reigns of William I and II (1066-100) Second Part:- The Histories of The Mints by P.W.P. Carlyon-Britton, there is reference to Ielfh (and variations) (see p. 121) being how the name Aelfen appeared on coinage of the Pevensey mint. This is a Saxon name ostensibly different from Jalf but it does suggest elements that could have led to early variants of Jelf. (https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1906_BNJ_3_9.pdf)

The Jolliffe Theory

There were 2074 incidences of the surname Jolliffe in England in 2014 (according to forebears.io) with 172, 28 and 10 incidences in England in 2014 of its principal variants Jolliff, Joliffe and Joliff. Jolliffe (with that spelling) is a more common name than Jelf. 

The theory adopted by the The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland that Jelf is a variant of Jolliffe requires that at some point before these two family names had become truly distinct, there would need to have been a clear linguistic shift in the pronunciation of the original name from which they are both said to be derived (Goly, Joly, Jolyf, Jolif). This would need to have involved a complete vowel shift from 'o' to 'e'. Could this be as a result of the Great Vowel Shift (GVS) taking place in the English language in the late Medieval and Early Modern English periods (1350-1700)? If you are reading this, can you provide any insight into this? Alternatively, if the change from O to E and the dropping of the second vowel sound (being the y in Jolyf) were not part of the GVS, could it have resulted from dialectal differences between different regions within England?

What does seem clear so far is that while we can easily find recognizable versions of the name Jelf in early 16th century records such as the Military Survey of Gloucestershire 1522, we have not so far found any incidences of a early version of Jelf in the 14th or 15th centuries although, early versions of names that could lead to the name Jolliffe do exist (e.g., John Jolif in Hundred Rolls (Huntingdonshire) in 1279 and Walter Jolyf in London Letter Books in 1281 (Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland). 

Another issue to resolve with the Jolliffe theory is that the early versions of Jelf (in the 16th century) are clustered tightly in a small geographic area in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire whereas early versions of Jolliffe appear to be more widespread. What could be the connection between the early Jelf of small villages in rural Gloucestershire and Worcestershire with a broader, more dispersed (and partially urbanized?) group of early Jolliffe who were generally recorded in counties outside Gloucestershire and Worcestershire? To us, it makes no sense but if anyone has ideas, please share!

The Low Countries Theory

Assuming that Jelfs and Jelf have the same origin story, there is one other published theory. This was shared by Patrick Boyer in his book Another Country, Another Life (which is the biography of Isaac Jelfs (1834-1908), originally from Gloucestershire, who emigrated to New York. Leading a double life, he disappeared, changed his name to James Boyer and created a new life and a new family in Canada). Patrick Boyer writes  "Ancestors of the Jelfs had migrated to England, most likely from the Low Countries, in the late 1500s. There the name Jelfs, with various spellings, appears in records back into the thirteenth century. Although the family was Jewish, for several generations now the Jelfs had become adherents to the Church of England." Patrick says this in relation to the family c. 1841. When I wrote to Patrick in 2013 to introduce myself as a (very) distant cousin, I asked him about the Jewish connection that he had referenced. He described it as a probability based on some research he had done in the Netherlands. He reported that he had, together with his Dutch wife, traced certain records that included the name. Unfortunately at this time, he did not have access to his notes. As intriguing as the Low Countries and Jewish theories are, they do not fit with the rest of the story. Given the early parish records in England, we can and should assume that Jelfs and Jelf - both "singular" and "plural" (and variants) - were used at the same time - probably even in relation to individuals who were related within families - when recording the births, marriages and deaths within the small Gloucestershire and Worcestershire villages. We know that the Jelf families were already established in 1522. This does not accord with Patrick's reference to migration from the Low Countries in the late 1500s. The extensive database of England's Immigrants 1330-1550 maintained by the National Archives does not show any names similar to Jelf. As for Patrick Boyer's conclusion that the Jelfs family had originally been Jewish, there seems no evidence of that and it does not fit with the timeline of Jewish exclusion from England (1290 until 1656). In Another Country, Another Life, Patrick references the use of "traditional Jewish" names among the girls in Isaac's family although this may just as likely be a result of the popularity of biblical Old Testament given names during the Victorian period.

The closest we have been able to get so far in identifying a name that may have existed in the Low Countries is Juelfs, apparently a German (and following migration to the US, an American) surname. According to the Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford University Press, 1st ed,), Juelfs is Frisian (Jülfs): related to Jolfs, a patronymic from the personal name Jolleff, a variant of Godlef. 

A Word on Spelling

There are many reasons why the spelling of the name now known as Jelf may have morphed over the last five centuries and more. One is the story of how English has evolved over since the early 15th century. It was early in the 1400s during the reign of Henry V that English became the language of government. However, it had no standardised spelling, unlike Latin or Old French which had been used until then. For example, the word right had one spelling in Latin (rectus) compared with the Old French word for right which had six spellings and Middle English which had 77 spellings. (Source:  Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper). It took more than two centuries for English spelling to stabilise. It is no surprise that the clerics who entered records in parish registers in the 1500s came up with multiple different (and inconsistent) ways of spelling the name Jelf even if phonetically the pronunciation of the name had stabilised.

The Bushley family (Jelf):

The earliest incidence of the Jelf name in Bushley is Ales Gelf in December 1602 as a "suertye" (surety?) for Katheryn Dowdeswell. We cannot find a record of the family in Bushley during the 1500's so where did they come from?

Sir James Jelf, 1763-1842. One of eleven children of Michael Jelf (1725-1790) and Sarah (Birch). Grandson of James Jelf (1693-1728) who was the son of William Jelph m. Anne Baccus in 1680.

Banker. Mayor of Gloucester. Knighted while mayor. In 1814, discovered natural springs in his land at Rigney Stile. He sank wells, built a pump room with hot and cold baths and laid out walks. The spa opened in 1815 but Jelf was made bankrupt soon after, having lent money to a failed venture for a tunnel under the Severn. He was forced to resign as mayor. Although the spa was rescued by a group of investors and it became a popular destination - at its height in 1820 - it was soon overshadowed by Cheltenham Spa. For a detailed account of the spa, Gloucester: History You Can See by D G Amphlett. James Jelf was also involved with the Bullo Pill railway.

James Jelf is the subject of a biography written in 1937 by his great grandson Arthur Selbourne Jelf: James Jelf 1763-1842 - Banker Mayor Knight - An Episode in Family History.

Richard William Jelf, 1798-1871, second son of Sir James Jelf. Principal of King’s College, London, married in 1830 to Emmy, Countess Schlippenbach of Prussia and Countess of Skoftein, Sweden. A prolific author on theology and church. 

The Jelf Medal, was created in his honour, as an annual award to the King’s College student who has most distinguished themselves during their undergraduate career. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_William_Jelf

William Edward Jelf (1811-1875) fifth son of Sir James. A churchman and classical scholar who wrote A Grammar of the Greek Language, chiefly from the German of Raphael Kühner. Married Maria Petit who together with members of her family were keen artists http://revpetit.com/circle-of-petit/

The Ashleworth family (Jelf):

Associated with the riverside Boat Inn at Ashleworth for 350 years. One of the family is said to have ferried King Charles across the River Severn after the battle of Worcester in 1651. The King is believed to have granted to Jelf and his descendents the right to Ashleworth ferry crossing by their inn. According to the Boat Inn's website: "other records suggest that these privileges may have been given to the Jelfs even earlier, by Prince Edward of March (later King Edward IV) when we was fleeing from his enemies of the House of Lancaster in about 1460. Certainly the family was in the village at a time when one John Jelfes was identified as an Ashleworth leaseholder in 1450. Six of his male descendents were listed as being military age in 1522." We understand that the pub was run by members of the family until the 1990's.

The Elizabethtown family (Jelf)

Colonial-era New Jersey was home to the family of Joseph Jelf, a merchant, and included a woman who was likely the oldest ever person bearing the name Jelf, namely Sallie (Sarah) Jelf, who was unmarried and died at the age of 105. 

Andrews Jelf - Architect and Mason to the King - Andrews Jelf (died 26 April 1759) was an architect and master mason and mason to the king. Died in his house at New Palace Yard, Westminster. Had been involved with the building of Westminster Bridge. Also designed Rye town hall.

Mary Jelfe, referred to as The Fairy Queen, who was 29" tall and was a performer (although whether by own will or not is unclear) in the 1740s. Mary is referenced in The Oxford Handbook of the Georgian Theatre 1737-1832, edited by Julia Swindells and David Francis Taylor.

Captain Jelf - Privateer - In The Guernsey Magazine: A Monthly Illustrated Journal Volume V No. 2 (February 1877) there is reference to Captain Jelf being a privateer in the waters near Jersey in 1646 and being jailed (in the "extracts from Chevalier's chronicle. state papers &c.").

Mrs Jelf Powis was painted, together with her daughter, Catherine, by Joshua Reynolds in 1777. and the portrait is in The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. [More to come]

Jelf and Transportation - Approximately 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia between 1787 and 1867. Two bearers of the name, Robert Jelf and John George Jelf, were transported from London and Middlesex to New South Wales in 1827 and 1829 respectively.

Roads - We are aware of various examples of Jelf Road:

Jelf Road, Brixton, London SW2 (UK)

Regat Tun Perak (formerly Jelf Road), Ipoh, Malaysia (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_roads_in_Ipoh )

Jelf Road, Chikanga 2, Mutare, Zimbabwe (to be renamed Edgar Tekere Road)

Jelf Court, Fawkner, Victoria, Australia

The Jelf Name in Fiction

For an unusual surname, you might not expect to see it show up often in a fictional context. However, there are a number of instances:

'Jack Jelf', a nursery rhyme, in 'The Book of Nursery Rhymes, Tales, and Fables' published in 1858, edited by Lawrence Lovechild.

'Jelf's Talisman {or A Happy Home)' a novel by J B Cowan published in 1876.

Mrs Jelf and Cecil Jelf in 'The Span of Life', a drama in four acts by Sutton Vane published in 1891 (?) so presumably Frank Sutton-Vane.

William Jelf, a sailor on HMS Albion in 'Princess of Kensington' an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood, produced by William Greet. The first performance was at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 22 January 1903 and ran for 115 performances.

'Jelf's: A Comedy in Four Acts', a play by Horace Annesley Vachell published in 1912.

Rev Stoner Jelph in 'The Valley of Ghosts' a novel by Edgar Wallace published in 1923.

Mrs Jelf in 'Affinity' a novel by Sarah Waters, author of 'Tipping the Velvet', published by Riverhead Books in 1999.

355 incidences of the name Jelf in the UK in 2014 (compared with 189 in 1881, of whom all but three - in Wales - were in England in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire).

764 incidences of the name Jelfs in the UK in 2014 (compared with 317 in 1881, all in England).

By way of comparison, there were 12 incidences of Jelphs in the UK in 2014 and no Jelph or Jelfe shown.

Source: Forebears.io

1881 Census - UK – Incidences of the Name Jelf

Source: https://britishsurnames.co.uk/surname/jelf/1881census

1841 Census – UK – Incidences of the Name Jelf

Source: Your Family History: https://your-family-history.com/surname/j/jelf/?year=1841#map

Bushley:

In James Jelf 1763-1842 - Banker Mayor Knight - An Episode in Family History A S Jelf noted the deep relationship between the Jelf family and the Severn - he noted 149 instances of the name Jelf (and Jelfe and Jelph) in the Bushley parish registers

Ashleworth:

In James Jelf 1763-1842 - Banker Mayor Knight - An Episode in Family History A S Jelf  reports having inspected the Ashleworth parish registers and noted 218 instances of the name Jelf in Ashleworth. He wrote that he could not find a connection between the Bushley and Ashleworth families but noted that the villages are only six miles apart. 

The Jelf name has strong associations with Gloucestershire and Worcestershire (and the River Severn) in England and appears to be an English surname in origin - at least since the 1500's. The name is now found in England, Scotland and Wales. There are also significant numbers of Jelf and Jelfs in Australia and the USA (although in the latter case, some report that their name is derived from the name Chelf).

There are also a small number of incidences of the name Jelf in Sweden. While one theory was that the name was originally a Nordic name, we have found no strong evidence of this. Indeed, when we contacted one Jelf family in Sweden, they understood the name to be an English surname. That is not dispositive of a Nordic etymology but it appears that  in modern times, at least, the Swedish surname Jelf has English roots. Can anyone researching the name in Sweden confirm this?   

Upleadon and Ashleworth - Gloucestershire - 16th Century

The villages of Upleadon and Ashleworth seem to play a central role in the Jelf family history in the 1500's. During the 16th century, these two villages seem to have accounted for the vast majority of incidences of the name Jelf (or its Tudor variants). We plan to share numbers soon. In Upleadon, we have identified sixteen different individuals with the name Jelfe (in that form of the name with the final 'e') between 1538 and 1599 (based on the parish register and Ancestry.com). For the same period, we have identified twenty in Ashleworth although this number may, in fact, be smaller since we are looking to connect burials with baptisms. In Ashleworth, we found greater variation in the spelling of the names in the parish register: Jelf, Jelfe, Jelff, Jelffe.

Long story short, even with these small numbers of parish register entries, these two parishes representing very small Gloucestershire villages appear so far to represent the majority of 16th century births, marriages and deaths for people with the name Jelf (or its variants). Question: Is the significance of Ashleworth reflected in the Military Survey of Gloucestershire 1522 (see below) where there are numerous entries for individuals that may be variants of Jelf?

We are also looking at 16th century records for other villages including Maisemore and Hasfield in Gloucestershire as well as Ripple in Worcestershire.

1841 Census: Distribution of Jelf (147 instances) and Jelfs (80 instances)

The geographic distribution of the Jelf and Jelfs names was in 1841 centered on three counties:

1. Gloucestershire: 52 Jelf (including 6 Jelfe) compared with 4 Jelfs (no variants)
2. Worcestershire: 45 Jelf (including one Jelff and one Jelph) compared with 16 Jelfs (including 10 Jelphs)
3. Warwickshire: 16 Jelf (no variants) compared with 42 Jelfs (including 8 Jelphs)

(1841 census information source: ukcensusonline.com)

The 1841 census results suggest that the name Jelf was more common than the the name Jelfs. However, by the time of the 1911 census, this had reversed and Jelfs had become more common as a surname in the UK, with 531 instances of Jelfs compared with 353 instances of Jelf. What accounted for this shift?

In these four maps of England & Wales, we can see the distribution of Jelf and Jelfs based on the 1881 census - and for comparison, the distribution of Jelfe and Yelf. The darker the colour, the more individuals with that name in that county.

Jelf Distribution Globally

According to forebears.io, approximately 547 people bore the family name Jelf globally in 2014 compared with 1072 people who bore the name Jelfs (and 13 who bore the name Jelphs).

US: In 2014, forebears.io shows that there were 140 incidences of the name Jelf in the US (with a concentration in Kentucky) and 19 incidences of the name Jelfs. However, we are still trying to understand how many are descended from Jelf families who emigrated from England versus those who descended from Philip Chelf (Jelf) who was one of the Second Germanna Colony of 1717 and who is understood to be German and not related in any way to the broader English Jelf family.

Australia: In 2014, forebears.io shows that there were 20 incidences of the name Jelf in Australia and 206 incidences of the name Jelfs. Two men by the name of Jelf  were transported as convicts to Australia, namely Robert Jelf aboard the Manlius (11 April 1827) and John George Jelf aboard the John (22 May 1829) (Source: https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/ ). The next earliest reference we have found to the name in Australia is to Thomas Jelf and the birth of his daughter Sophia Ann in 1848 in Adelaide.

Canada: In 2014, forebears.io shows that there were no incidences of the name Jelf in Canada and 47 incidences of the name Jelfs (with a concentration in Alberta). 

South Africa: In 2014, forebears.io shows that there were 8 incidences of the name Jelf in South Africa and no incidences of the name Jelfs. There is an entry in South African settler records of an individual by the name of Jelf-Boulton in 1820. 

Military Survey of Gloucestershire, 1522

The original manuscript was created by three people, written in Latin, dog Latin and English. 

The village of Ashleworth shows the follow indidividuals: Are the spellings all variants of  the same family name? Or transcription errors?

Thomas Jelff Ashleworth

John Gylfe Ashleworth

John Jeffes Ashleworth

Richard Geffes Ashleworth (note the lists are not alphabetical - John Jeffes is followed immediately in the transcript by Richard Geffes - coincidence or were they related? Did they live in the same property?)

William Gyffe Ashleworth

William Yelffe Ashleworth

Other individuals noted in the 1522 survey are:

William Gelif Adlestrop

Thomas Gelf Hardwicke

Richard Yelfe Longney

Thomas Geffe Longney

John Yelfe senior Longney

John Yelfe junior Longney

Richard Yelfe Longney

Thomas Gelfe Preston on Stour

Robert Geffes Preston on Stour (Note: Geffes is not listed in the index of personal names)

Henry Gelfe Tirley

Nicholas Gelfe Tirley

Gloucestershire Lay Subsidies 1581-1595 (Southwest Division)

Richard Jelfe, Ashleworth

Men and Armour for Gloucestershire in 1608

Men and Armour for Gloucestershire in 1608 is a transcript of the information produced by a military survey of the county of Gloucestershire conducted by John Smyth the Steward of the Berkeley Estate in that year. Thus, it contains a fairly complete list of all the men from the ages of 16 to 60 in Gloucestershire in 1608. According to coaley.net, the survey contains nearly 20,000 names. Below are individuals shown with the name Jelfe, Gelfe or Jelfes

1. ffrauncis Gelfe, husbandman. 2. ca. Ashelworth (now presumably Ashleworth)
2. John Jelfe. A20. lower stature. Clapton [Stow on the Wold]
3. John Jelfe husbandman.Bisley [Stroud]
4. John Jelfes servant to John Addams. A20. lower stature. Lower Swell [in Swell parish, Stow on the Wold]
5. Richard Gelfe husbandman. 2. ca. Ashelworth
6. Richard Gelfe Constable. tr. Aylberton
7. Richard Jelfe weaver. A20. meanest stature. Haresfield [Gloucester]
8. Richard Jelfe labourer. A20. middle stature. Sandhurst [Gloucester]
9. Richard Jelfes servant to the said John Bray. A20. lower stature. Donnington [Stow on the Wold]
10. Roger Jelfe husbandman. A40. lower stature. has a caliver furnished.]Putloe [in Moreton Valence parish, Gloucester]
11. Roger Jelfe husbandman. A40. tallest stature. trained. has one corslet furnished. Upleadon [Newent]
12. Thomas Jelfe husbandman. A40. middle stature. Cheringtont [Tetbury]
13. Thomas Jelfe [and Thomas Bicknell and John Beale] have between them one corslet furnished. Hartpury [Gloucester]
14. William Gelfe husbandman. 2. p. tr. Hartbury
15. William Gelfe husbandman 2. ca. Tetbury Burrowe
16. William Jelfe husbandman. A40. lower stature. Cheringtont [Tetbury]
17. William Jelfe servant to Richard Adeane. A20. lower stature.Temple Guiting [Winchcombe]

There were no mentions in the 1608 survey of the possible variants Yelf or Jeliff/Joliff. Does this suggest that the name had settled by 1608 and that the spelling/pronunciation was beginning to standardize or that they are separate and distinct family names?

Source: http://www.coaley.net/glos1608/index.php

[If we take 20,000 as the total male population of, we can see how few Gloucestershire men bore the name Jelfe, Gelfe or Jelfes in 1608. Fewer than 1:1000. Of the 17 noted above, 9 of the men were husbandmen (i.e., farmers who did not typically own their own land or who had small holdings). In terms of social status, husbandmen were seen as ranking below yeomen.]

Surname Dictionaries and Genealogical Resources Where the Jelf Name Does Not Appear:

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain by Henry Brougham Guppy, 1890

Lay Subsidy Roll for the County of Worcestershire c. 1280 edited by J W Willis Bund, 1893 

Lay subsidy roll, A.D. 1603, for the county of Worcester edited by John Amphlett, 1901

Hearth Tax Digital (Roehampton/Graz)

Jelf and Jelfs in the Arts:

Amy Jelf, film actor, known for Resa i natten (1955), Flicka med melodi (1954) and Klasskamrater (1952) https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0420526/

Chris Jelf, royal photographer, https://chrisjelf.com

Cilla Jelf, Swedish film actor living in the US https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2056530/bio

Gunilla Jelf, film actor, known for Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates (1962)

John Jelfs and Jude Jelfs at the Cotswold Pottery in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire

Steve Jelfs, is an actor, known for The Trial of Standing Bear (1988)

Jelf in the Military:

Maj-Gen Richard Jelf, died 22 January 1994, Major-General, Eastern Command 1957. Commandant, Police College, Bramshill 1957-63. Director of Civil Defence, Southern Region 1963-68 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-maj-gen-richard-jelf-1409896.html

Jelf in Sports:

Ted Jelf (b. 1934) his sons Owen Jelf (b. 1966) and Colin Jelf  (b. 1970) and grandson Ben Jelf are all known for powerboat racing  - https://www.fastonwater.co.uk/the-jelfs.html