Keogh
Mac Eochaidh · son of Eochaidh
Keogh is Mac Eochaidh in Irish, said mak OKH-ee, and means son of Eochaidh.
Eochaidh is built on each, a horse: the horseman. In Wexford and Wicklow it is spelt Kehoe and said the same way.
How it changes
- A man: Mac Eochaidh
- His daughter: Nic Eochaidh
- A woman who married into it: Bean Mhic Eochaidh
- The family together: Mhic Eochaidh
Where it comes from
Wicklow, Roscommon and Tipperary
Also spelt
Keogh, Kehoe, McKeogh, Hoey
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.