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The 10 most popular Irish last names

Read complete clan story and see photos about each family

By
ANTOINETTE KELLY,
IrishCentral.com, Staff Writer
Published Saturday, November 12, 2011, 7:15 AM
Updated Saturday, November 12, 2011, 7:15 AM

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Coats of arms representing Irish clans


Irish and Irish-Americans alike tend to be immensely proud of their surnames.

Many a Irish family proudly declare their Irish roots by displaying the crest of their clan in their homes.

But which last names win in the battle of Irishness?

IrishCentral took a look at the list of the most common surnames in Ireland in order to come up with a top 10 list.

Smith and Murray are two of the most common, but one is of British origins and the other’s Scottish, so they didn’t make the cut.

Here, then, are the 10 most Irish last names:

1. Murphy  - the sea battlers

Murphys – you win the prize for most common and widespread name in Ireland, especially in County Cork. 

This surname, which means “sea battler,” translates to Gaelic as MacMurchadh (son of Murchadh) and O'Murchadh (descendent of Murchadh), a derivation of the first name of Murchadh or Murragh.

O'Murchadh families lived in Wexford, Roscommon and Cork, in which county it is now most common, with the MacMurchadhs of the Sligo and Tyrone area responsible for most of the Murphys in Ulster.

The name was first anglicized to MacMurphy and then to Murphy in the early 19th century.

READ THE WHOLE STORY OF THE MURPHY CLAN! CLICK HERE

2. Kelly – the bright-headed ones

Kelly comes second to Murphy as the most common surname in Ireland.

The Kellys are all over Ireland; the name originates from at around 10 different and unrelated ancient clans or septs. These include O'Kelly septs from Meath, Derry, Antrim, Laois, Sligo, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Galway and Roscommon.

O'Kelly comes from the Gaelic O Ceallaigh, meaning "descended from Ceallach," an Irish chieftan. “Ceallach” means war or contention. It is an ancient first name that is no longer used as a first name in Ireland. However, Kelly is a popular first name for women in the U.S.

READ THE WHOLE STORY OF THE KELLY CLAN! CLICK HERE

3. O'Sullivan – the hawkeyed ones

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9 Comments

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numberonejoshfa | Mar 09, 2012, 05:56 PM EST
My Grandmother was Irish to the bone, but her birth record has been lost over the years. She was a Reynolds. How I wish there was some way to trace muy ancestry. I am very proud of my Irish ancestry.

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numberonejoshfa | Mar 09, 2012, 05:48 PM EST
What about Reynolds, or O'rannals?

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JOHNTOBIN | Nov 13, 2011, 12:45 AM EST
This is interesting reading.How about Tobin?I believe it is Norman in origin.

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ohioirish | Nov 13, 2011, 12:18 AM EST
while smith is often an english name, it is also often a native irish name and is synonomous with mcgowan. it is an anglisized version of mac gabhann "son of smith". love the list, but smith can be the surname of native irish as well.

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crowsnest | Nov 12, 2011, 04:40 PM EST
I did notice that Murphy 46, being a Murphy and all myself

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Murph46 | Nov 12, 2011, 03:31 PM EST
NOTICE-Murphy #1

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crowsnest | Nov 12, 2011, 11:52 AM EST
My great Grandmother was a McCOOL ( mac Cumhaill); My grandmother was a WARD. Both these surnames go way back and it would be great if Irish central would do a column on these plus any other old surnames suggested by your readers.

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ohioirish | Nov 12, 2011, 09:59 AM EST
antoinette, while smith is the #1 surname in england, it actually is very often a native irish surname also and is synonomous with mcgowan. mcgowan (mac gobhann) means "son of the smith" and was often anglizised to "smith". so while often is english, it is often the surname of native irish as well. http://irishfamilyhistory.ie/blog/?p=102 othen than that, love the article!

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GeorgeDillon | Nov 12, 2011, 09:10 AM EST
This is a ridiculously inaccurate and inadequate list. Where's Chen? And Czarleszvski? And what about mBongo? And Patel?

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