O’Riordan
Ó Ríordáin · descendant of Ríoghbhardán
O’Riordan is Ó Ríordáin in Irish, said oh REER-dawn, and means descendant of Ríoghbhardán.
Ríoghbhardán is the royal bard: rí, a king, and bard. Seán Ó Ríordáin, one of the great Irish language poets of the last century, came from Ballyvourney.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Ríordáin
- His daughter: Ní Ríordáin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Ríordáin
- The family together: Uí Ríordáin
Where it comes from
Cork
Also spelt
O’Riordan, Riordan, Reardon, Rearden
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.