Family Names in Britain and Ireland

[Grace O'Malley]

There is a publication which I would love to have. It is very extensively researched going back to the 11th century. It is The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland.

It costs £400.00 but it should be available in Libraries.

This huge new dictionary is the ultimate reference work on family names of the UK, covering English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and immigrant surnames. It includes every surname that currently has more than 100 bearers, and those that had more than 20 bearers in the 1881 census.

Each entry contains lists of variant spellings of the name, an explanation of its origins (including the etymology), lists of early bearers showing evidence for formation and continuity from the date of formation down to the 19th century, geographical distribution, and, where relevant, genealogical and bibliographical notes, making this a fully comprehensive work on family names.

This authoritative guide also includes an introductory essay explaining the historical background, formation, and typology of surnames and a guide to surnames research and family history research. Additional material also includes a list of published and unpublished lists of surnames from the Middle Ages to the present day.

https://www.oxfordreference.com/view...-9780199677764

• Covers over 45,000 family names in the UK, including immigrant names
• Each entry includes the current and 1881 frequencies of the name, its main GB location, and its language or culture of origin
• Each main entry explains the name's origins and history, supported by a selection of early bearers taken from a wide range of sources such as wills, tax records, court records, parish registers, Nonconformist circuit records, and many other documents
• Entries for variants direct the reader to the main entry where the history and etymology of the name is covered
• Contains a full list of published and unpublished sources consulted
• Introductory essay explains the origin, history, and typology of family names in Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere in the world, the research methods used, the sources used. and some of the problems encountered in researching family names
• Explains many surnames never previously explained and corrects many widely believed errors in the light of new evidence

Feel free to post any information you have about surnames from Britain and Ireland.

[Grace O'Malley]

A couple of the surnames in my family tree that I would like to know the origin of are the following:

Leland which I'm not sure whether it is shortened from McClelland, McLeland, or possibly of English origin.

This has some interesting information about this surname.

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the lay land.' Two parishes in Lancashire, bear the name of Layland or Leyland. Amongst other authorities he quotes 'laylande; terre nouvtllemtnt tabouret' (Palsgrave); 'a leylande, frisca terra' (Herrtage's Catholicism Anglicum); 'selio, a lee lande' (Ortus). Thus Layland means fallow or unploughed land. For the connexion of lay with lea and lee, v. Lee.

Johannes Leyland, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Ellis Leyland, of Nether Wyersdale. 1679: Lancashire Wills at Richmond.

Thomas Lealand, of Nether Wyersdaile, 1670: ibid.

1688. Baptised — William, son of Richard Layland: St. James, Clerkenwell.

— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley
V. Leyland.

— Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison
Most families of these names in Ireland are of Scottish origin. The old Uí Fiachrach sept of Mac Giolla Fhaoláin in Co. Sligo appears to be almost if not quite extinct though possibly it survives as Gilfillan in Leitrim. MIF 57

— A Guide to Irish Names (1964) by Edward MacLysaght

https://forebears.io/surnames/leland#meaning

The other surname is Caplis and in some surname origin articles the surname apparently has a French Huguenot origin and in others it is Norman. Some even state it originated in the Netherlands.

Caplis is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest brought to England in 1066. The Caplis family lived in Herefordshire. The name refers to the family's former residence in La Chapelle, Normandy.

Early Origins of the Caplis family
The surname Caplis was first found in Herefordshire where another source claims that name was derived from "the ancestor of Lord Albemarle [who] was Arnord-Joost van Keppel, lord of Voerst, a descendant of one of the most ancient houses in Guerlderland, [Holland] who accompanied King WIlliam III to England in 1688, and was by him advanced to the title still enjoyed by the family. According to 'Folks of Shields,' the name is equivalent to De Capella." [1]

https://www.houseofnames.com/caplis-family-crest

[Daco Celtic]

I think a vetted source of surname information is important so this sounds interesting. It underscores the importance of family trees and genealogy which is totally ignored on TA. It takes a lot of legwork and doesn't have the instant gratification of genetic testing but it is worth it in the long run. I would rather pay for a database of records or newspaper articles than have a service do the work for me.

[Grace O'Malley]

I think a vetted source of surname information is important so this sounds interesting. I think this underscores the importance of family trees and genealogy which is totally ignored on TA. It takes a lot of legwork and doesn't have the instant gratification of genetic testing but it is worth it in the long run. I would rather pay for a database of records or newspaper articles than have a service do the work for me.

Yes I agree. A paper trail is going to be more interesting and is something I would have more faith in than dna tests. I think the ydna testing might be promising but that appears good for people from Ireland where there has been quite a good record of family names and on the M222 Sons of Aodh project they are doing some interesting things. This couldn't be done in some other countries though.

The Y-DNA results that we have seen so far indicate that the R1b-DF104 phylogenetic node is the starting clade (Y-haplogroup) of our research. The median age estimate for R1b-DF104 places it ~36 AD. The conclusion to start with the R1b-DF104 clade is based on the numerous Connachta surnames in the publicly available R1b-DF104+ test results that genetically correlate with the historical Irish genealogies and annals for the most part. As of May 2019 AD, there are almost 1200 known R1b-DF104+ men.
This assumption of the R1b-DF104 clade being the starting point does eliminate two dynasties from our research for the most part: the Uí Maine and the Clan Colla, the descendants of The Three Collas. Please visit Peter Biggins’s excellent website for a detailed explanation of the Clan Colla and quick highlight of the Uí Maine Y-DNA. Essentially, both of these kindred groups split off from the lineage long before DF104 existed. Y-DNA test results show they split off before the R1b-M222 phylogenetic node occurred, which is estimated to have happened as early as ~554 BC, with a median time frame of ~139 BC.
We solicit the participation of all R1b-DF104+ men, as well as anyone who is interested in our research. Through our efforts, we are constantly expanding the R1b-DF104 clade as our genetic testing data and knowledge grow. Thank you for visiting our website and we hope to see you in our discussions and genetic testing activities.

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups...out/background

[Creoda]

I don't have many questions re: surnames. Most of mine are pretty rooted in the local region, and firmly English or Irish (Norman vs Anglo-Saxon/Gaelic is much of a muchness, since surnames post-date the Normans). The only ones I'm a bit curious about are the origins of some British names in Ireland (Taylor, Wynne, Stapleton). Also to get to the bottom of whether Hughes and Jones on my English side mean some Welsh ancestry, which I don't think they do.

[GreentheViper]

Nice thread, surname origins and genealogy in general is pretty interesting.

I have some planter surnames in Ireland which is my main focus atm

[Grace O'Malley]

Top 20 Irish surnames
The Irish surnames highlighted in the list below were the 20 most numerous in 1890, according to a study by Robert Matheson, then Registrar-General of Ireland.


One of the earliest Irish surnames, O'Brien, dates back to the 12th century when the grandson of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, honoured him by taking his name.
In his Special Report on Surnames in Ireland, Matheson estimated the total number of people living on the island bearing the 100 most numerous names, and he indicated the counties and provinces in which each was most common.

In addition to including some of Matheson's findings and calculations in the list below, I've added statistics revealed by Griffith's Valuation (a survey of households and land carried out county-bycounty between 1848 and 1864) and brief details about the origin of each of the names.

Other sources mentioned include the 1990s research findings of genealogist and tutor Sean J Murphy, which, like the earlier reports and surveys, cover the entire island. However, the most recent (2019) statistics mentioned in some of the text below relates to analysis carried out by the Irish Republic's Central Statistics Office and does not cover Northern Ireland.

Quick links to each name:

Byrne Doherty Doyle Gallagher Kelly Kennedy Lynch McCarthy Moore Murphy Murray Quinn O'Brien O'Connor O'Neill O'Reilly O'Sullivan Ryan Smith Walsh

https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit....-surnames.html

[Grace O'Malley]

Nice thread, surname origins and genealogy in general is pretty interesting.

I have some planter surnames in Ireland which is my main focus atm

Northern Ireland is very interesting as far as surnames go for obvious reasons. What most people don't understand (& why would they? ) is the amount of planter surnames in the Catholic community. There is also some that go the other way. Gerry Adams is a good example.



Irish nationalists, most of whom are Catholic, identify with the native Irish who were displaced in the Plantation, while Unionists, most of whom are Protestant, identify with the planters. People with Gaelic Irish surnames are still usually Catholic, and those with Scots Gaelic or English surnames usually Protestant. Intermarriage has occurred across the sectarian divide: many Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland are actually descended from the Planters (for example, Gerry Adams, John Hume), and many Protestants from native Irish families (for example, Terence O'Neill, Ronnie Flanagan), as evidenced by their surnames — although of course the surname only denotes one paternal ancestor.

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/420388

[Grace O'Malley]

Another prominent surname in my family tree is Collins which can have multiple origins. I'm pretty sure though that mine is of indigenous Irish origin.

The Gaelic version of the name Collins name is O'Coileáin, which means a young dog. In Ireland, Collins may be regarded as a genuinely indigenous Irish name; ranked number 30 in Ireland it is one the most numerous surnames, with an estimated Collins population of 14,000 persons, the majority of which come from Counties Cork and Limerick. The Irish Collins surname originated in Limerick, where they were lords of the baronies of Connello, until after the Norman invasion they fled to Cork. The O'Coileains seem to have left no visible landmarks as no castles or towns are stamped with their name. There are also Collin families from the province of Ulster, most of whom were probably English.

Famous People with the Collins Surname

One of Ireland's most famous sons was Michael Collins (1890 - 1922), affectionately known as 'The Big Fellow'. He was a man of great physical strength and courage and one of the signatories of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. He topped the polls for Sinn Fein in the 1918 general election and, with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1922, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief with a price of £10,000 on his head. When the President, Arthur Griffith, died in August of that year, Michael Collins took over as head of state and the army. Ten days later he was shot in an ambush at Beal-na-Blath in his beloved West Cork and his untimely death deprived Ireland of a most promising leader.

Alternate Surname Spellings for Collins: Collin, Colling, Collings, Collen, Collens

https://irelandroots.com/collins.htm

Although Collins is a common English name, Collins is also an indigenous Irish name, derived from the Irish Gaelic "O'Coileain."

Early Origins of the Collins family
The surname Collins was first found in North Desmond the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, later part of County Limerick, where they were lords of the baronies of Connello and lords of Eighter Conghalach (Lower Connello). By the 13th century, they had moved south and settled in West Cork, having been driven out of their original territories by the Geraldines.

https://www.houseofnames.com/collins-family-crest

So, names common in England, such as Smith or Collins, are common in Ireland too. However it is not always as clear as it may seem. While many bearers of these names are descended from English settlers or immigrants, others bear a name which sounds and is spelled the same as an English one but has a different origin.

Thus a family with the name Collins may have English ancestry, or they may descend form the the Cullane (O’Coileain, which means “holly”) clan, who anglicised their name variously to Collins, Cullen and Cullinan.

https://www.dochara.com/the-irish/su...es-in-ireland/

[Grace O'Malley]

Norman origin surnames are common in Ireland. I would love more genetic research done on this. Would it be difficult due to them not being that genetically different? It would be great if we could see what some Normans were actually like genetically when they first starting going to England. In Irish history these Normans were also called Old English to differentiate them from the English that came in later periods.

For example, this listing of surnames allows the researcher to identify and map the distribution of the descendants of the Anglo-Norman settlers who are increasingly known as the ‘Old English’ by the mid-seventeenth century. Surnames included here are Barry, Brannagh, Browne, Burke, Butler, Croke, Fitzgerald, Fitzmaurice, Fitzsimon(s), Nagle, Power, Redmond, Roche, Russell and Tyrrell. All these surnames are included in the Atlas project. Figure 1, therefore, seeks to map the relative distribution of the Gaelic and Old English surnames in 1660. (4) What is revealed is a whole series of territorial polarisations and gradations in the distribution of family names. The ‘Old English’ Pale area is confirmed with the Boyne valley as a crucial axis. In sharp contrast, the strength of the population with Gaelic surnames over much of Louth, South Dublin, North Wexford and most particularly Kildare is striking. The mid-seventeenth century surname evidence also confirms the spread of medieval settlement and culture by the Anglo-Normans in south-east Ireland. Outside of the north-west and the south-west of the province and the hills of Tipperary, Figure 1 also illustrates the strength of Norman naming patterns over much of Munster. But what this map fails to reveal is the subtle gradations in the forms of the Anglo-Norman names as they work their way inland and westwards into such highly Gaelicised lands as North Kerry, not to speak of the naming and cultural permutations that characterize Connaught.

https://research.ucc.ie/doi/atlas