O’Keeffe
Ó Caoimh · descendant of Caomh
O’Keeffe is Ó Caoimh in Irish, said oh KEEV, and means descendant of Caomh.
Caomh means gentle or kind, the same word behind Caoimhe and Caoimhín. Descended from Art Caomh, a tenth century king of Munster, and the family held Duhallow until the plantations.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Caoimh
- His daughter: Ní Chaoimh
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Chaoimh
- The family together: Uí Chaoimh
Where it comes from
Cork, around Duhallow
Also spelt
O’Keeffe, Keeffe, Keefe, Keef
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.