Graff Family History

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) (also Gräff): variant of Graf. Compare Graeff. English (London): metonymic occupational name for a clerk or scribe from Old French grafe ‘stylus pencil’ a derivative of Old French grafer ‘to write’ (from Late Latin grafare from Greek graphein).

It is uncertain whether the English name survived the medieval period or whether the early 17th century bearers in Britain were in fact of German origin.