Cufley

Cuffley is a village in the county of Hertfordshire and four miles from Enfield in Middlesex. There are only three places in England whose name commences with "Cuff-" making it a very rare prefix. Although one can never be absolutely certain withe the origin of individual names, be they place names or surnames, it seems likely that this name originates from the pre 6th century words "cofa-leah" with cofa meaning literally a cove, but often used to describe an inland valley or cleft in a hill, or indeed almost anything which provides some sort of hidden place. The suffix is from the Old English word "leah." This describes a fenced enclosure suitable for agriculture, or a farm! So we have the meaning of a farm in a valley or something very similar. Cuffley being a locational name is a "from" name or a name given either to the lord of the manor and his or sometimes her, descendants or to people who left the village and moved somewhere else, and were given the name as easy identification. As a result it is unusual to find a locational surname well recorded in its original county, but this is one of them. The name is recorded originally as Cufly and Cufley, and later Cuffley. The first recording is that of John Cufley whose daughter Marian was christened at Hexton in Herts, on March 3rd 1540, whilst William Cuffley was a christening witness at Kings Walden, on May 28th 1573.