Irish Surnames D
A list of Irish surnames beginning with the letter D
| Name | Variants | In Irish | Location | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daly | Dawley O’Daly Daley | Ó Dálaigh | Widespread | Gaelic |
| Very old name; means “present at assemblies” and has the same origin as “Dail”, which is the name for the Irish Parliament. | ||||
| Dardis | Dublin, Kildare, Meath | Norman | ||
| From the Norman d’Ardis | ||||
| Delany | Delane, Delaney | Ó Dubhshlaine | Widespread, Dublin, Laois | Gaelic |
| Means “of the black river Slaney”. | ||||
| Dempsey | Ó Diomasaigh | Laois, Offaly | Gaelic | |
| Means “proud”. | ||||
| Devine | Davin, Devane, Devin, Downes | Ó Daimhin | Cavan, Dublin, Louth, Tyrone | Gaelic |
| Means “poet or storyteller”. | ||||
| Devlin | Ó Doibhlin | Sligo, Tyrone | Gaelic | |
| Dillon | Widespread | Norman-French | ||
| Derived from “de Leon” | ||||
| Doherty | Dougharty, Dougherty, MacDevitt, O’Dogherty. | Ó Dochartaigh | Ulster | Gaelic |
| Means “obstructive”. | ||||
| Dolan | Doolan, Dowling, Doelan, O’Doelan. | Ó Dobhailen | Galway, Roscommon | Gaelic |
| Means “defiant”. | ||||
| Donoghue | Donohue, Donohoe, O’Donoghue, O’Donagh, Donaghue, Dunphy | Ó Donnchadha | Widespread | Gaelic |
| Means “Sons of Donogh”. | ||||
| Doran | Ó Deoradháin | Armagh, Down, Kerry, Laois, Wexford | Gaelic | |
| Means “stranger”. | ||||
| Dowling | Ó Dunlaing | Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Wicklow | Gaelic | |
| Doyle | Doyelle, Doyley, MacDowell | Ó Dubhghaill | Widespread, Wexford. | Irish name for Norse invaders |
| Means “dark or evil foreigner” | ||||
| Driscoll | O’Driscoll | Ó hEidersceoil, | Cork | |
| Means ” interpreter”. | ||||
| Duffy | Doohey, Dowey, Duhig, O’Duffy | Ó Dubthaigh | Ulster, Monaghan Roscommon | Gaelic |
| Duggan | Doogan, Dougan | Cork, Donegal, Galway, Tipperary. | Gaelic | |
| Means “black head (hair?)” | ||||
| Dunne | O’Dunne, O’Doyne, Doine, Doin, O’Dunn and many more. | Ó Duinn | Widespread, Laois | Gaelic |
| Means “brown”. | ||||
What can you tell me about Dunnings from Westmeath (Athlone) and Connacht (Roscommon)?
I have met some in Eire, and was told they derive from O’Duinin clan, but necessarily anglicized their name in order to maintain residence within the city or town limits of an English bailiwick during the time of the Penal Laws.
I suspect my Dunning ancestor is most likely English, but through progressive intermarriage we are now more Irish than anything else (on BOTH sides), including so-called ‘Black Irish’ from Antrim, Spanish / Portuguese ancestry verified by DNA (!).
James (Seamus) Dunning
i’m aware of people named doorish in donegal and derry areas
my grandmother was irish. her last name was Dorris. I’ve been told i take after the Dorris side of the family. i was wondering what part of irland her family came from.
I’ve never come across that name, but I’ll ask about it and see what I come up with.
My maternal Grandparents’ surnames were Durning and Trinity, both from Ireland via Wales and England respectively. I can’t find either name on a list of Irish surnames. Can you tell me anything about them? Thanx!!
Im a Dempsey staying in Scotland, and ive always wondered if my decendents came here due to the potato famine,or for other reasons.
Seeking any leads on my hugeonot grandmother who had the family name Dowzard which may have originally been D’Owzard Born in dublin in 1889
My family, named Dyas, came from Dublin. What is there origin there?
The (O’)Driscolls are the most senior line of the chiefs of the Dairine (later called the Corcu Loigde), a well-attested Erainn people from whom the Scottish House of Dunkeld proudly claimed descent. The Dairine are called Darini in Claudius Ptolemy’s atlas, the Geographia, and their name means the descendants of Daire Doimthech.
Thomas Francis O’Rahilly thought that Daire had the earlier form Darios, and that it is related to the Gaulish name Dario.
Daire Donn is the Irish name for Darius the Great, the Persian emperor whose invasion of Greece was defeated by Athens at Marathon in 490 BC.
By the way, there’s a legend that the Gaels migrated to Ireland from Galicia in north-west Spain, according to which King Breogan of Galicia had built a tall tower, from which his son (fancifully) espied the beauty of the emerald isle. On that site now stands the Farum Brigantium, or Tower of Hercules, an early 2nd century Roman lighthouse with Phoenician foundations, which is still in use, and it peculiarly shines its light toward Ireland.