Devlin
Ó Doibhilin · descendant of Doibhilin
Devlin is Ó Doibhilin in Irish, said oh DIV-lin, and means descendant of Doibhilin.
A Tyrone family and close followers of the O’Neills, which put them at the centre of Ulster politics for three hundred years and on the losing side at the end of it.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Doibhilin
- His daughter: Ní Dhoibhilin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Dhoibhilin
- The family together: Uí Dhoibhilin
Where it comes from
Tyrone, around the Ballinderry river
Also spelt
Devlin, Develin, Devlan
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.