All posts in Irish Surname Origins

You know what your Irish surname means and roughly where it ruled — the question is how to turn that knowledge into your documented family. This is the workflow: seven steps that take a surname from etymology to ancestors, using tools covered across this site…

Somewhere between a Connemara baptism and a Boston payroll, Mac Gabhann became Smith, Ó Maol Mhuaidh became Molloy, and ten thousand families acquired names their grandparents would not have recognised. The change was systematic — which is the good news, because systematic changes can be…

Three letters — O’, Mc, Mac — carry most of the folklore in Irish naming, and most of the misinformation. No, Mc is not Irish while Mac is Scottish. No, the apostrophe is not possessive. And the great-grandfather who “dropped the O” was making a…

Half of Irish America seems to be named Murphy, Kelly, or Sullivan — and there is a reason: a handful of great sept names account for a startling share of the island’s families. Carrying one is both a heritage and a research predicament. This guide…