Hayes
Ó hAodha · descendant of Aodh
Hayes is Ó hAodha in Irish, said oh HAY, and means descendant of Aodh.
Aodh means fire. In Cork the same name stayed O’Hea, and elsewhere it became Hayes, which is also an English surname of its own, so not every Hayes is Irish.
How it changes
- A man: Ó hAodha
- His daughter: Ní Aodha
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Aodha
- The family together: Uí Aodha
Where it comes from
Cork, Tipperary, Wexford and Donegal
Also spelt
Hayes, O’Hea, Hay, Hughes
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.