Boy · Old English
Offa
Say it: OF-fah
Meaning
Uncertain. A short single-element name whose meaning is not known; it also appears for a legendary Anglian king.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Made famous by the 8th-century Mercian king remembered for Offa's Dyke.
Its wave through time
No birth counts are recorded for this name in the records loaded here: it has been given to fewer than five babies a year, or not at all, since records began.
Through the ages
Used by
Famous bearers
- Offa, king of Mercia
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Anglo-Saxon charters, chronicles and church records
- Royal and noble genealogies
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.