The 10 most popular Irish last names

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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 19^th 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

Kellys may have bright heads, but O’Sullivans have hawk-like eyes.

The O'Sullivans or Sullivans are one of the most populous of the Munster families. In Irish, O'Sullivan is O'Sileabhin, and there is no doubt that origin of the name comes from the word sil (eye), though whether it is to be taken as "one-eyed" or "hawkeyed" is in dispute among scholars.

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