Can you help me with the origin of my last name?

Question

My last name--> Tifa.

I have no idea where it's from it's been bugging me for a while, my last name is rare but not uncommon and i'm just curious so...Mind helping if you know??

There were 2 other instances with people with "Tifa":

1. FinalFantasy VII-- A character named "Tifa".

2. A musician with the stage name "Tifa".

Answer 1

Yes, I would indeed say it is rare. There are no listings of meaning or origin on either www.ancestry.com or www.surnamedb.com.

www.familysearch.org says it has 21 listings, but in actuality there are only 8 names (most found in the Pacific Islands):

1.  'Elisiva  TIFA-- Gender: F Birth/Christening: 1870 Ta'anea, Vava'u, Tonga, Pacific Ocean; Death:   1940  

  Ta'anea, Vava'u, Tonga, Pacific Ocean

( name listed 9 times, but 1 shows B. 1870 in   Mu'A, Tongatapu, Tonga, Pacific Islands and D. 1948; and another B. 1870 in   Matahau, Tongatapu, Tonga, Pacific Islands, D. 1940 )

2.  'Alisiva Tifa--Gender: Female Birth: 1870 Mu'A, Tongatapu, Tonga, Pacific Islands (2 listings)

3.  ATU-EKAHO-ELISIVA TIFA--Gender: Female Birth: About 1884 Ta'Anea,Vava'U, , Tonga, Pacific Islands;

Marriage:  About 1906  Neiafu,Vava'U, , Tonga, Pacific Islands ; Death:  About 1938  (3 listings)

4. Baldemir TIFA--Birth: 14 May 1924  State Where Number was Issued: New York  Death: Sep 1992  (1 listing)

5.  ATUEKAHO ELISIVA TIFA (same name as #3, but different date/place)--Gender: Female Birth: 1885 Koloa Vavau, Tonga, Pacific Islands; her Father:  SIONE KULI  and

  Mother:  KASANITA  (1 listing)

6. Tetuanuima Itaata Tifa--Gender: Female Birth: 1815 Pueu, Tahiti, Iles Du Vent, Pacific Islands  (2 listings)

7. Te Tifa--Gender: Male Birth: About 1732 Tikei, Tuamotu, Pacific Islands; Parents: Father:  Te Hau and Mother:  Karere

(1 listing)

8. Tuisamoa-Tifa --Gender: Male Birth: About 1815 Malaemalu,Falealili,Upolu, , Samoa, Pacific Islands; Parents:

  Father:  Tuisamoa-momoe  and Mother:  Tumoe (1 listing)

9. TIFA--Gender: F Birth/Christening: < 1858 San Giovanni, Casassa, Italy; Father:  Domenic ZANUZZI and  Mother: Lucy  (1 listing)

http://www.howmanyofme.com/search  says:

"There are 0 people in the U.S. with the last name Tifa. This name is not found in our database, this means the name is relatively uncommon."

Sooooooooo, I'd say it originated in the South Pacific.

Answer 2

Tifa :

Meaning: Its source is Theophania, a Greek name meaning "Revelation of God."

Nickname For: Tiffany

Narrative: In many Christian countries, girls born on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, are given some form of this name. That feast commemorates the visit of the three Magi (''wise men'' or ''astrologers'') to the infant Jesus twelve days after his birth............

http://www.babynamer.com/tifa

Places in the world that start with Tifa

http://www.fallingrain.com/world/a/T/i/f...

Tifa Irian, is a Papua New Guinea, Indonesian language newspaper.

Indonesian myth :

....She named her son Biwar. She raised Biwar and gave him some skills, like how to make various weapons, setting traps to catch animals, creating fire, and singing well, playing tifa, a traditional music instrument like African drums.......

http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~cycle/MYdragonE...

Chocolate !

http://www.tifachocolate.com/store/index...

The National Coat of Arms of West Papua shows a standing Mambruk Bird with outstretched wings. On her chest is a shield with the West Papuan national flag. The Mambruk is holding a tifa (traditional Papuan drum) in her right claws. In her left claws are seven arrows, representing the unity of the West Papuan people.

http://www.freewestpapua.org/index.php?o...

I would say that the name Tifa originated from one of the

ethnic races who inhabit Papua New guinea. Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, and Polynesian.