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Irish Gaelic Surnames

You’ve probably heard this little rhyme at one time or another:

By Mac and Ó you’ll always know true Irishmen they say. But if they lack the Ó and Mac, no Irishmen are they.

A cute rhyme, as far as it goes, but the reality is that Irish surnames are much, much more complicated than that — particularly surnames in Irish Gaelic.

In this post we’ll take a look at surnames in Irish…particularly at how “mac” and “ó” surnames came to be, and why many very Irish surnames either lack them now or never had them to begin with.

Gaelic Surnames: Source of “Mac” and “Ó”

Many of the Irish surnames with which you are familiar — Murphy, Sweeny, Ryan, etc. — come from the culture of the Gaels: The Celts  that populated Ireland (and ultimately Scotland and the Isle of Man).

Gaelic surnames are “patronymics,” that is, they indicate patrilineal descent. Originally they weren’t surnames at all, but just a way of distinguishing similarly named individuals:

“Do you know Tom?”

“Tom James’ son?”

“No…Tom John’s son.”

In English, this practice ultimately gave us such surnames as “Jameson” and “Johnson.” Much the same thing happened among the Gaels.

The Irish word for “son” — mac — would be placed in front of the person’s father’s given name, nickname, or occupation, which would be in the “genitive” or “possessive” case:

Eoghan Mac Suibhne – Eoghan Son of Suibhne.

A similar system existed for females, using nic — a form of the Irish word for “daughter”:

Gráinne Nic Mhurchú – Gráinne Daughter of Murchú.

What about the “Ó’s”?

 

The “Ó” surnames came along much later, as a result of people wanting to identify themselves as descendants of a famous ancestor. “Ó” means “grandson/male descendant”:

Colm Ó Riain – Colm Descendant of Rian.

As with mac, a similar system existed for females, using another form of the Irish word for “daughter”: ní.

Eibhlín Ní Riain – Eibhlín Daughter of Rian.

So where did “mac” and “ó” go?

 

Well, in Irish, they haven’t gone anywhere.  When people who have surnames of Gaelic origin write or say them in the Irish language, they use Mac, Ó, Nic, or Ní as appropriate.

In English, it’s another story. As Gaelic names were Anglicized, sometimes they lost their prefixes:

Ó Suibhne became “Sweeny.”

Mac Murchú became “Murphy.”

Ó Riain became “Ryan.”

Some retained their prefixes, but in an altered form. For example, Mac became “Mc” or “Ma” and Ó became “O’.”

(By the way, there’s no truth to the old line about “Mc” indicating an Irish name and “Mac” indicating a Scottish name. In fact, both cultures use both prefixes).

To make things even more confusing, names weren’t Anglicized consistently…in fact, they were all over the map!

You might, for example, have one family called “Riley,” one called “Reilly” and another called “O’Reilly” or “O’Riley (all of which were originally Ó Raghallaigh).

Non-Gaelic Irish Surnames

Not all Irish surnames are of Gaelic origin, however. Over the centuries, Ireland has attracted people from various cultures, all of which have left their mark on the landscape of Irish surnames.

In fact, some of the best-known Irish surnames, such as Fitzgerald, Joyce, Walsh, Power, and Burke, come to us from the Normans.

The Normans may have come to Ireland as would-be conquerers, but they eventually became “more Irish than the Irish,” intermarrying with the Gaelic tribes and even adopting their language.

They adopted Gaelic forms of their surnames as well. Some who had names with the “fitz” prefix went with the mac form (“fitz” derives from “fils,” meaning “son” in French):

Mac Gearailt = Son of Gerald = Fitzgerald

Most, however, simply adopted a more Gaelic spelling and pronunciation for their Norman surnames:

Seoigh  (Anglicized as “Joyce”)

de Burca (Anglicized as “Burke”)

de Paor (Anglicized as “Power”)

Some had their surnames translated literally. For example, “Walsh” (a form of the word “Welsh”) became Breatnach: Irish for a Welsh person.

These names never sported a “Mac” or “Ó,” but are undeniably Irish!

The English and the Anglo-Irish

 

There’s little doubt that the English left their mark as well. In fact, the man that many consider the quintessential Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, had a surname that was of English origin.

“Yeats” is still quite a common surname in Ireland, as are other names of English origin, particularly occupational names, such as “Cooper,” “Baker,” and “Smith.”

Some of these names don’t have natural Irish language forms in and of themselves, at least not in the traditional Gaelic patronymic sense, though they can be “Gaelicized.”

Occupational names, or English names ending in “son” (such as “Williamson”) can easily be adapted to the “mac” form (you’ll see “Williamson” rendered as “Mac Liam,” for example).

In other cases, often the names are simply written in Irish phonetically, though sometimes the Norman “de” prefix will be added.

Generally speaking, any name that is associated with Ireland long enough will eventually acquire its own form in the Irish language, though it may or may not acquire a Gaelic prefix along the way.

So don’t despair “if you lack the Ó or Mac”!

Perhaps your name lost its prefix when it was Anglicized, or perhaps it never had one to begin with, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less Irish!

Did you find this article helpful?

Did you know all this about Irish surnames before? Let us know your thoughts below!

51 thoughts on “Irish Gaelic Surnames”

  1. Marie

    Hi Siobhán,
    Thanks for sharing this. Don’t must out those called Kinsella and Kavanagh who never had the O to begin with. I believe it’s because the ‘ach’ is an Old Irish descriptor meaning ‘of’. I think some folks ended up adding an O or a Mac because they thought it was anglacized to begin with!
    Thought I’d mention it in case anyone is looking at it and misses that some Irish names never had it.

    Reply
  3. Nichole

    Hi, my surname is pronounced in old Irish Mac-Ka-van-nyeh but also down the same blood line Mac-ka-V-nah. Its spelt in English McAvany/McAvena, but pronounced in old irish. My dad says the original pronunciation
    is Mac-ka-V-nah. What would be the old irish spelling?

    Reply
  4. A

    Haigh Siobhan, Tá ceist agam.

    I was married recently and have always had my name as gaeilge I used to have a Ní in my name, my husbands surname is, as the article says, a non-irish name that took on irish phonetically, béataigh, do i just leave it simply, (my name) Béataigh or (my name) Uí Béataigh.
    GRMA

    Reply
    1. Siobhán at Bitesize

      A Aisling, a chara,

      Comhghairdeachas! As your husband’s name does not have Ó or Mac before it, I would see no reason to now add Uí or any other such form before it. I am not completely certain if Béataigh should have a séimhiú/lenition, however. I cannot find examples of the female forms of Béataigh in any surname databases I am aware of. Another surname that doesn’t have any Ó or Mac is Breatnach (Walsh) and when it’s a woman’s name, it takes a séimhiú and becomes Bhreatnach. I am, however, unsure if this is how Béataigh is.

      Sorry that I could not be of more help!

      Siobhán

      Reply
  5. Gem

    Hi Siobhan, I have found your articles and advice really informative.

    I have looked and haven’t been able to find anything to answer this question – how do you deal with a surname for someone who is gender neutral? Assigning “son of” or “daughter of” wouldn’t be appropriate for them, and I have no idea what to do. What would you advise?

    Reply
  6. Aisling

    dia duit! my surname is keenan and i was wondering would it be ní cianáin or ní chianáin as gaeilge?
    go raibh mile!!

    Reply
  7. Kevin McKnight

    My last name is McKnight, but in Gaelic it is MacanRidire. How do I pronounce it.
    I know my first name is Caoimhin, pronounced Quevin, Anglo is Kevin.

    Reply
  8. Aisling

    Día dúit ! My surname in english is carthy but all the irish translations on google are for mc carthy. Would they be considered the same translation in irish or is there a different translation for carthy if so what is it? Thank you!!!

    Reply
  9. Cianán

    Dia duit! I stumbled upon this blog post after some (failed) Googling so I hope that I’m not bothering you all. I see that some last names gain a h when on a woman, such as Ó Murchú vs Ní Mhurchú. What is the rule for this? I know that a h is added before the last name when it starts with a vowel, such as Ó hAodha, but I’m not sure why some female last names have the h after the first letter and some don’t.

    Go raibh maith agat!

    Reply
    1. Siobhán at Bitesize

      Dia is Muire duit, a Chianáin!

      A h is added after the first consonant (this is called lenition/séimhiú) when Ní, Nic, Uí or Mhic is placed before the surname. Examples of the female versions of the surnames Ó Murchú and Mac Cárthaigh are Ní Mhurchú, Nic Chárthaigh, Uí Mhurchú, Mhic Chárthaigh. Ní and Nic denote a single woman/daughter. Uí and Mhic are for married women (eg. wife of Ó Murchú/Mac Cárthaigh). Uí and Mhic are also used to denote a possession of someone eg. carr Uí Mhurchú – Ó Murchú’s car.

      The h at the very beginning of a name/word is a different thing to lenition/séimhiú. This h is called h prothesis. Its usual purpose is to make a word/phrase easier and more pleasant to pronounce. It is usually used when one word ends in a vowel and the next begins with a vowel. Ó hAodha has a pleasanter sound than Ó Aodha. Ní hAodha and Uí hAodha are the female versions of this surname.

      Hope that helps!

      Reply
  11. William Maserjian

    Dia Duit Siobha’n!!
    Any thoughts on the phonetic pronunciation of O’ Maoilmheana (Mulvey)?

    Go raibh maith agat!
    Bill Maserjian

    Reply
  12. Barbara Quirke Scanlon

    Hi Siobhain, My surname is Quirke or Ní Chuirc as gaelige. I have also seen it spelĺed as Quirk. Would you know are both spellings correct and what is the origin please.
    Many thanks
    Barbara

    Reply
  13. R

    Hi,
    My surname is Greene and is not of English origin. I was wondering if you could help me with finding out what my surname would be in its correct original Irish form. I have found variations such as Ó hUainín, Ó hUaithnín, Ó hUaine, MacGlaisín, Ó hUaithne, Ó hUaithnigh, however unsure as to which is the correct one.

    Thank you.

    Reply
    1. Aisling B.

      A chara,

      They are all forms of the English surname Green, so unfortunately unless you know which version your family would have used there is no way for me to tell which one is correct. It may help for you to identify the parts of Ireland each one of these come from and from there identify which is the most likely version your family used.

      Le beannacht,
      Aisling

      Reply
  14. David Haggerty

    Our family name is Haggerty. It is probably a miss spelled version of Hegarty. Which is in turn and anglicised version of uí Eigeartaigh. How is uí pronounced? And is it a version of ó as in óHegarty? Just one more thing! Could you give me the correct usage of the fada accents in the name uí Eigeartaigh? Thank you so much.

    Reply
    1. Aisling B.

      Hi Daniel!

      Uí is pronounced ‘eee’, and is the genitive case of ‘Ó’. The genitive case is quite a complicated grammar rule that I wouldn’t worry too much about for now. 95% of the time, O’Haggerty will be written as Ó hÉigeartaigh.

      O’ Hegarty/Haggerty as Gaeilge is ‘Ó hÉigeartaigh’.

      Hope this helps!

      Reply
    1. Gabrielle

      Ó Muirí is the translation and it would be pronounced very similarly to the English version although there is a subtle difference: /mw-urr-ee/

      Hope that helps!
      Gabrielle

      Reply
  16. Aislinn Rohan

    Hello
    I’m trying to find the correct pronunciation of the Irish version of my surname Rohan. The Irish would be Ó’Ruadháin or possibly Ó’Ruacháin. I’d like to know how to say them properly if you can help.
    Thanks
    Aislinn

    Reply
  18. Leona McEvoy

    My surname is McEvoy in irish its Fhiodhbhuidhe… but how does it be pronounced … in school it always sounded like nic “eve ee ” can you help me out in anyway.

    Reply
  19. Elly Morrison

    Hello,
    My last name is MORRISON–I am having a hard time finding out the correct Irish pronunciation of it’s Irish counterpart:
    O’ Muirghsasain-
    I am both curious and hoping you could shed some light on this- Thank you
    Elly/ Eilidh

    Reply
  20. Dani Deery

    Hello
    My surname is Deery. In Irish it is O’Daighre. I’m not 100% on the pronunciation. My family pronounce it ‘o’dare’ but I’m pretty sure ‘gh’ in Irish is ‘y’ If I were to start using the Irish form, as a female would it be Ni Daighre, or is it better to just stick with O’Daighre?

    Reply
  21. Karyn Schmitt

    Hi-my ancestors in the southern Connemara Islands are Joyce, Connelly, Bailly and Flaherty. Can you tell me how to pronounce these family names ?

    Reply
  22. Jessica Cullinan

    Hi there,

    My surname is Cullinan, but I’ve been informed this is descendent from Ó Cuileannáin. Is this correct and if so, how do I pronounce it correctly? Much thanks:)

    Reply
    1. Siobhán at Bitesize

      Hi Jessica,

      Thank you for your question.

      Ó Cuileannáin is indeed the Irish for Cullinan.

      Ó Cuileannáin is the man’s surname. Women’s surnames depend on their marital status. If Cullinan is your maiden name, it would be Ní Chuileanáin but if you’ve married a man with the surname Callinan, you would be Uí Chuileanáin.

      You can hear Ní Chuileanáin being pronounced in the Ulster accent in this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pfM3l_MhRQ

      It could also be pronounced with the “á” being pronounced as like the English word “awe”. /Nee Khil-en-aw-in/

      There is also the placename Baile Uí Chuileannáin / Ballycullinan https://www.logainm.ie/en/6232

      Le gach dea-ghuí, (Kind regards)
      Siobhán

      Reply
  23. Sylvia

    I have a question about the famous Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan. I was told (perhaps incorrectly) that if you just call him by his last name, you say “Carolan” but if you use his first name as well, you include the O’: Turlough O’Carolan. Is there any truth to this? Thank you.

    Reply
    1. Siobhán at Bitesize

      Hi Sylvia,

      Thank you for your comment.

      From what I see of any English language writings about the famous Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan, he is indeed often just called Carolan when his first name is not mentioned.

      His name in Irish is Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin. When his first name is not included, he is called either an Cearbhallánach or Ó Cearbhalláin.

      Le meas,
      Siobhán

      Reply
  24. Barbara Prust

    According to ancestry.com, my name (Ledwith) was also spelled Ledwidge, but another source tells me it was from the Gaelic spelling, Leadus (with accents on the e and u). How would that spelling be pronounced? Does it sound a bit like Ledwidge, Ledwich or Ledwith? I am trying to trace my Irish roots, but the spelling changes make it quite difficult! Thanks.

    Reply
    2. Siobhán at Bitesize

      Hi Barbara,

      Thank you for your comment.

      According to Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall which was published in 1923, De Léadús (the Gaelic version), Ledwith, Ledwidge and its other variations were all derived from the Norman surname de ledwith. You can find out more here: http://www.sloinne.ie/surname/ga/de-leadus/

      Unfortunately, many people used various different spellings of their name during their lifetime.

      If you’ve any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

      Le meas,
      Siobhán

      Reply
  25. Mark

    Hi my surname is Keoghane I’m told it’s irish and want to know the corect pronounciation I think a letter or two has been added over time , can anyone shed dome light on it ? Thanks

    Reply

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