Over at A Letter From Ireland, they have asked their audience for years to share the surnames in their family trees. From that, they have compiled their Top 10 Irish Surnames.
Also see their actionable 7-module course that you can take for free: How to Research Your Irish Ancestry.
Many of these people are looking to reach back into their family history. There’s a real sense of belonging to be found in uncovering the surnames in your own family’s history.
To help with your own research, here are common modern-day Irish language of those surnames, in reverse order:
10. Collins
9. Murray
8. O’Connor
7. O’Brien
6. Ryan
5. McCarthy
4. Walsh
3. Sullivan
2. Kelly
1. Murphy
We hope that these audio recordings with phonetic pronunciations help you in your own research. There’s a couple of more things to note about these.
The above are modern spellings of surnames. In times gone by, the Irish language surname would likely have been spelled differently (depending on the surname).
Irish language surnames were anglicised (“into English”) in many different ways. You might find that the same Irish language base surname was anglicised into a variety of spellings.
Several Irish language surnames were also anglicised into one English language version. A good example above is Collins, which can cover both surnames Ó Coileáin and Ó Cuilleáin.
Bonus surname pronunciations
Thanks for those who replied to this post immediately after we posted it. Here are some additional recordings for surnames you have mentioned!
how about the Irish pronunciation for Mulquinny
Haigh Paul, here’s an approximate pronunciation. Keep in mind there can be variations.
https://inirish.bitesize.irish/how-to-say/10425-mulqueen-mulqueeny
Thanks for the recording. I have a lot of pronunciation to learn. Mulquinny was the typed record for an 1855 Valuation of Tenements. Do you have a perspective on Mulquinny vs. Mulqueeny? Was Mulquinny a transcription error? I’m not clear on how or why Mulquinny becomes Mulqueeny. Thanks.
Haigh Paul. I’m not an expert, but my own experience in surnames in English was that there were many variations of many surnames before they got more standardised. Some surnames indeed continued divergently, with different descendents following the spelling of their family’s surname. I knew Mulqueen in Clare, so there is that variant too.
Eoin
How would you pronounce Kearney we were always told to say ( Kar- nee)?
Yup John, that’s a typical way to pronounce the name in Ireland in English.
My surname has been anglicized to Flood. However the Irish language version is O’Maoltuile. I would love to know how that is pronounced. Thank you- Glenn
Hi Glenn, we don’t have a recording for it, and I’m not familiar with the name in Irish, but Ó Maoltuile would be approximately pronounced like:
/Oh Mwail-tilleh/
I’m a Murray, didn’t know the original word was different thank you
My Surname is Glendinning BUT my mam`s maiden name is O’neill and i`ve enjoyed scrolling through others
Is there a Gaelic pronunciation of the surname Heffernan ?
Hi Dan, Ó hIfearnáin would be approximately pronounced like:
/Oh Hiffer-noyn/
Dia duit, mo ainm o loingsigh conas a litreann me, an bhfuil se ceart, go raibh maith agat
My mother’s father was John O’Byrne and my genealogy test says that I am68 percBeent Irish.
Hello Mike
Was disappointed not finding my Irish surname in your lists, Toohey or I have also seen it as Touhy, it’s said we are somehow related to king Niall, we come from county Tipperary, not certain if north or south. Patrick went to Australia & William to America, (the sisters remained in Ireland),sometime around 1890’s, my great g/father was Patrick & he changed the spelling to Toohey (after the beer). Any advice/news is welcome. Tks Joanne Patricia Toohey
How do you say the name McGlave?