Irish Surnames: Meanings, Origins and the Irish Spelling

What does your surname mean in Irish, and where did the family come from? Sixty Irish surnames with the Irish spelling, how to say it, the women’s forms, and the county the name belongs to.

The surnames

In English	As Gaeilge	What it means	Where from
Ahern	Ó hEachthigheirn	descendant of the lord of horses	Clare, then Cork and Waterford
Barry	de Barra	of Barry	Cork
Boyle	Ó Baoill	descendant of Baoll	Donegal
Brady	Mac Brádaigh	son of Brádach	Cavan
Brennan	Ó Braonáin	descendant of Braonán	Kilkenny, Fermanagh, Kerry and Westmeath
Browne	de Brún	the brown one	Galway, Kerry and Mayo
Buckley	Ó Buachalla	descendant of the cowherd	Cork
Burke	de Búrca	of Burgh	Galway, Mayo and Limerick
Byrne	Ó Broin	descendant of Bran	Wicklow
Cahill	Ó Cathail	descendant of Cathal	Galway, Clare, Kerry and Tipperary
Carroll	Ó Cearbhaill	descendant of Cearbhall	Éile, on the Offaly and Tipperary border
Casey	Ó Cathasaigh	descendant of Cathasach	Cork, Dublin, Fermanagh, Limerick, Mayo and Roscommon
Clarke	Ó Cléirigh	descendant of the clerk	Donegal and Galway, and anywhere a clerk was written down
Collins	Ó Coileáin	descendant of Coileán	Limerick, then west Cork
Connolly	Ó Conghaile	descendant of Conghal	Galway, Monaghan and Meath
Costello	Mac Oisdealbhaigh	son of Oisdealbhach	Mayo
Crowley	Ó Cruadhlaoich	descendant of the hard hero	west Cork
Cullen	Ó Cuilinn	descendant of Cuileann	Wexford, Wicklow and Kildare
Cunningham	Mac Cuinneagáin	son of Cuinneagán	Donegal and Down
Daly	Ó Dálaigh	descendant of Dálach	Westmeath, then Cork, Clare and Galway
Delaney	Ó Dubhshláine	descendant of Dubhshláine	Laois and Kilkenny
Dempsey	Ó Díomasaigh	descendant of Díomasach	Laois and Offaly
Devlin	Ó Doibhilin	descendant of Doibhilin	Tyrone, around the Ballinderry river
Doherty	Ó Dochartaigh	descendant of Dochartach	Inishowen, Donegal
Donnelly	Ó Donnghaile	descendant of Donnghal	Tyrone
Doyle	Ó Dubhghaill	descendant of Dubhghall	Wexford and the southeast
Duffy	Ó Dubhthaigh	descendant of Dubhthach	Monaghan, Donegal and Roscommon
Dunne	Ó Duinn	descendant of Donn	Laois
Egan	Mac Aodhagáin	son of Aodhagán	Tipperary, Galway and Offaly
Farrell	Ó Fearghail	descendant of Fearghal	Longford, the kingdom of Annaly
Finnegan	Ó Fionnagáin	descendant of Fionnagán	Cavan, Monaghan and Roscommon
Fitzgerald	Mac Gearailt	son of Gerald	Kildare and Desmond
Fitzpatrick	Mac Giolla Phádraig	son of the servant of Patrick	Ossory, the Laois and Kilkenny border
Flanagan	Ó Flannagáin	descendant of Flannagán	Roscommon, Fermanagh and Offaly
Flynn	Ó Floinn	descendant of Flann	Cork, Roscommon and Antrim
Gallagher	Ó Gallchobhair	descendant of Gallchobhar	Donegal
Griffin	Ó Gríobhtha	descendant of Gríobhtha	Clare and Kerry
Hanlon	Ó hAnluain	descendant of Anluan	Armagh
Hayes	Ó hAodha	descendant of Aodh	Cork, Tipperary, Wexford and Donegal
Healy	Ó hÉalaithe	descendant of Éalaitheach	Cork
Hennessy	Ó hAonghusa	descendant of Aonghus	Offaly, Clare and Cork
Hickey	Ó hÍcí	descendant of the healer	Clare and Tipperary
Higgins	Ó hUiginn	descendant of Uiginn	Sligo and Mayo
Hogan	Ó hÓgáin	descendant of Ógán	Tipperary and Clare
Kavanagh	Caomhánach	of Caomhán, the follower of Saint Caomhán	Carlow and Wexford
Keane	Ó Catháin	descendant of Cathán	Derry, Clare and Galway
Kearney	Ó Cearnaigh	descendant of Cearnach	Tipperary, Mayo and Meath
Kelly	Ó Ceallaigh	descendant of Ceallach	Uí Mhaine, east Galway and south Roscommon
Kennedy	Ó Cinnéide	descendant of Cinnéidigh	Tipperary, from Clare
Keogh	Mac Eochaidh	son of Eochaidh	Wicklow, Roscommon and Tipperary
Larkin	Ó Lorcáin	descendant of Lorcán	Wexford, Galway and Armagh
Lynch	Ó Loingsigh	descendant of Loingseach	Cork and Clare
Lyons	Ó Laighin	descendant of Laighean	Galway, Mayo and Cork
MacNamara	Mac Conmara	son of the hound of the sea	Clare
Madden	Ó Madaidhín	descendant of Madadhán	east Galway
Maguire	Mag Uidhir	son of Odhar	Fermanagh
McCarthy	Mac Cárthaigh	son of Cárthach	Cork and Kerry
McGrath	Mac Craith	son of Craith	Clare, Waterford and Fermanagh
McHugh	Mac Aodha	son of Aodh	Galway, Mayo, Fermanagh and Donegal
McLoughlin	Mac Lochlainn	son of Lochlann	Donegal and Derry
Molloy	Ó Maolmhuaidh	descendant of Maolmhuadh	Offaly, Roscommon and Mayo
Mooney	Ó Maonaigh	descendant of Maonach	Offaly, Donegal and Sligo
Moore	Ó Mórdha	descendant of Mórdha	Laois, the kingdom of Loígis
Moran	Ó Móráin	descendant of Mórán	Mayo and Galway
Mullan	Ó Maoláin	descendant of Maolán	Derry and Donegal
Murphy	Ó Murchú	descendant of Murchadh	Cork, Wexford and Roscommon, three unconnected families
Murray	Ó Muireadhaigh	descendant of Muireadhach	Roscommon, Down and Cork
Nolan	Ó Nualláin	descendant of Nuallán	Carlow
O’Brien	Ó Briain	descendant of Brian	Thomond: Clare, Limerick and north Tipperary
O’Callaghan	Ó Ceallacháin	descendant of Ceallachán	Cork
O’Connell	Ó Conaill	descendant of Conall	Kerry
O’Connor	Ó Conchúir	descendant of Conchobhar	Connacht, and four other kingdoms besides
O’Donnell	Ó Domhnaill	descendant of Domhnall	Donegal
O’Donoghue	Ó Donnchadha	descendant of Donnchadh	Kerry and Cork
O’Dowd	Ó Dubhda	descendant of Dubhda	Sligo and Mayo, the Moy estuary
O’Driscoll	Ó hEidirsceoil	descendant of Eidirsceol	west Cork, around Baltimore
O’Flaherty	Ó Flaithbheartaigh	descendant of Flaithbheartach	Connemara and west Galway
O’Hara	Ó hEaghra	descendant of Eaghra	Sligo, and Antrim after a move north
O’Keeffe	Ó Caoimh	descendant of Caomh	Cork, around Duhallow
O’Leary	Ó Laoghaire	descendant of Laoghaire	west Cork
O’Mahony	Ó Mathúna	descendant of Mathghamhain	west Cork
O’Malley	Ó Máille	descendant of Mál	Mayo, the coast around Clew Bay
O’Neill	Ó Néill	descendant of Niall	Tyrone and Antrim
O’Regan	Ó Riagáin	descendant of Riagán	Laois, Meath and Cork
O’Riordan	Ó Ríordáin	descendant of Ríoghbhardán	Cork
O’Rourke	Ó Ruairc	descendant of Ruarc	Breifne, Leitrim and Cavan
O’Shea	Ó Séaghdha	descendant of Séaghdha	Kerry
O’Sullivan	Ó Súilleabháin	descendant of Súilleabhán	Cork and Kerry, after being driven south from Tipperary
O’Toole	Ó Tuathail	descendant of Tuathal	Wicklow and Kildare
Power	de Paor	the poor man	Waterford
Quinn	Ó Cuinn	descendant of Conn	Tyrone, Clare, Longford and Antrim
Reilly	Ó Raghallaigh	descendant of Raghallach	Cavan, the kingdom of East Breifne
Roche	de Róiste	of the rock	Cork, Limerick and Wexford
Ryan	Ó Riain	descendant of Rian	Tipperary and Limerick
Sheehan	Ó Síocháin	descendant of Síodhach	Limerick, Cork and Kerry
Smith	Mac Gabhann	son of the smith	Cavan above all, but any parish that had a forge
Sweeney	Mac Suibhne	son of Suibhne	Donegal, Cork and Kerry
Tobin	Tóibín	of Saint Aubyn	Tipperary and Kilkenny
Walsh	Breatnach	the Briton, the Welshman	everywhere, but thickest in Mayo, Kilkenny and Waterford
Ward	Mac an Bhaird	son of the bard	Donegal and Galway
Whelan	Ó Faoláin	descendant of Faolán	Waterford and the southeast

Ó, Mac, Ní and Uí

Ó means grandson or descendant of and Mac means son of, and a family is one or the other. The name then changes with the person carrying it: Seán Ó Briain has a daughter called Máire Ní Bhriain, and a woman who marries into the family is Bean Uí Bhriain. How the names were anglicised.