Origin of the name Tsarfin

One of the versions of the origin of this family name comes from the famous researcher of the onomastics of the Jewish families Alexander Beider. He says the name comes from the word "Tsarfat" meaning France in Hebrew. In the 19-th century this name occurred mainly in Minsk and Grodno gubernia. In the same place one can find other family names that sound closer to the origin - Tsarfis and Tsarfas (the sound "s" is often used instead of "t" when passing from Hebrew to Yiddish).

We can add another, less romantic but more concrete version of the origin of this name. In the same Grodno gubernia there is another close family name - Tsoref. The word "tsoref" in Hebrew means "jeweler".
This is while in Minsk already in the end of the 18-th century a Tsurfin family lived - a russified version of the name Tsuref (Tsoref).

Both versions have a right to exist until you started to study concretely who your Tsarfin ancestors were. If it is revealed that 4-5 generations ago members of this clan dealt with jewels dynastically - then this would be a clear argument in favor of the second, professional version.
Not to remain non-concrete - let us provide some data about people having this family name that can be found in the portal www.jewishgen.org.
According to the data of "revizskaya skazka" (this how the house by house census was called in Russian) for 1811, several Tsurfins lived in Minsk. They are all in the lists of the town craftsmen:
Zelik Tsurfin son of Heshel - born in 1774.
Sons of Iser Tsurfin son of Gershon (born about 1775, died in 1811): Morduch Shmuila - born in 1799, Abram Movsha - born in 1803, and Faibish - born in 1808. Unfortunately their mother does not appear in the published lists.
In the book "All Russia" for 1903 a Minsk businessman Abram Tsarfin son of Zelik is mentioned who dealt with textiles. And in 1911 in the same book one can already find his son, David son of Abram.
In the lists of the Duma voters of Grodno gubernia for 1912 there is a mention of Leib Tsarfin, son of Ovsei and Leizer Tsarfin son of David. Both of them lived then in Grodno.