Irish Surnames of Viking Origin
Posted in: Irish Surnames
The Vikings were in Ireland for relatively short time, but they left a considerable legacy of names behind. Some, such as MacAuliffe (Son of Olaf) and MacManus (Son of Magnus) are quite common, though the latter at least are not all of Viking stock.
Some names from this time are descriptive, so that Doyle is an Anglicisation of Ó Dubhghaill, which means “son of the dark (or evil) foreigner”. That would about sum up how the Vikings in general were widely seen, but the particular foreigner in question may well be DubhGilla (again meaning dark foreigner), a Viking who was King of Idrone, in present day County Carlow, around 851 AD.
Obviously someone took to this evil incomer, because he has tens of thousands of descendants in Ireland today!
The most famous bearer of the Doyle name is probably the 1950’s Irish-American boxer, Jack Doyle, also known as the “Gorgeous Gael”.
Other Norse names found occasionally in Ireland still include Cotter, Dowdall, Dromgoole, Gould, Harold, Howard, Loughlin, Sweetman and Trant.
A Bigger Contribution?
It has been widely assumed that the contribution of Vikings to Irish surnames was relatively small, with just a few surviving names as their entire legacy. However some experts in the area now believe it may have been much greater than that.
The use of hereditary surnames developed quite a bit earlier in Ireland than in other European countries, and they came into widespread use quite abrubtly during a time when the Vikings ruled over much of the country. Was this a coincidence, or are these facts linked in some way? Research in this area is ongoing and much warranted.
The Vikings settled in Dublin, Ireland.
We now have what they call the Norwegian Irish. There are many Lund throughout the British Isles.
I’m kinda one of them myself – my mother’s name was O’Loughlin, which is a name of Viking origin.
l av been led to beleive that my name wade is of viking origin? being mcquaid and wade being referenced to a mythical sea god who guarded the baltic seas ?.my family are from cork . can any one shed any light on this puzzle
Wade- is from Norse to Walk in Water or to be stranded in water.
And one also have to remember that Norman and Anglo Norman Surnames have their origins in Viking Norse language, as Normandy was so named after the Norse Vikings who settled there.
Ello! My mum’s maiden name is Hopper, and through ages of oral tradition, the Hoppers are part viking. I suspect this to be true, however I would like someone to shed some light on this matter.
Thanks
search for Caithreim Ceallachain Caisil (warlike Callanan of Cashel) A 10th centuary Munster King.
The kingship of the province of Munster whose seat at the ancient Rock of Cashel in Tipperary was usurped by the Lochlannachs and dubhGall’s for over 130 years by the time Ceallachan was secretly inaugurated by the Gaelic tribes of Munster. Ceallachan set about uniting the Munster tribes and making war against the foreigners. He had many great victories. Ceallachans tribe were the race of Eogan (Eoghanacht: Hogan.) First mention of Viking raids on Irish centers of christanity and learning is AD795 at the monastic settlment of ST Colm Cille on the Island of Iona.
In AD837 fleets began to arrive and the Norse attacks began to change in character. First settlements in Ireland circa: AD841. After many wars and alliances with various Irish tribes Viking designs on the complete control of Ireland were broken forever after their disasterous defeat in 1014 at Clontarf near Dublin by the then High King of Ireland Brian Boruma (Boru) of the DalCais tribe of east Clare. The Vikings would never recover from this defeat but many remained, settled, intermarried with Irish, formed family alliances and traded and developed coastal towns around the Island which their ancestors had founded over a century and a half previous.
The irony of these sagas is that while Saxon England struggled on against the Vikings for another 50 years, Ireland was for a short time united under an Irish King and free of foreign oppression.
My mother’s family name on her mothers side is Loftus, THis shows up as English – I think she was Irish. Is it common for this name to be derived from Laughlin or O’Laughlin or such?
I am not aware of Loftus as a derivation of O’Laughlin. My mother’s maiden name was O’Loughlin, so I am kind of aware of derivations, variables and close matches of that name and Loftus isn’t one I’ve come across