Geoff, diminutive hypocorism (or “pet
name”) for Geoffrey which is an English masculine given
name, or Geoffroy its French equivalent. It is the Anglo-Norman form of the Germanic compound *gudą 'god' and *friþuz '
peace'. It is a cognate of
Dutch “Godfried” (God Fried) and German “Gottfried”. (Got T Fried)
Often confused with the anglified “Jeff”, Geoff represents the olde school version (with the e via the o). As you might say the word “yes” around Jeff, it would be correct to say “yeos” with Geoff. And while you definitely wouldn’t want to “eff” with Jeff, it’s cool to “eoff” with “Geoff”. Because the meaning of Geoff is “God’s
Peace” it’s fair to say Geoff should be divinely chill, though who’s to say this “god” couldn’t be interpreted as a god of
war and destruction that you caught on a good day? What is
peace?? That’s a good question for Urban
Dictionary!
It is important to note that Geoff is a 5-letter word where Jeff is a 4-letter word, and thus never subject to usage in a 4-letter word situation. As Nick Cage pointed out, “Jeff” could never be used in place of “Dick”, but more like “Jesk” which is like a weak ejaculation.