Irish Surnames H-J

Hagan

Variant: O’Hagan

Healy

Variant: O’Healy, Hely, O’Healihy

In Irish: Ó hÉildhe Ó hÉilaighthe

Found in: Cork, Sligo, Tipperary

Origin: Gaelic

Two families, Ó hÉildhe means “claimaint”, and Ó hÉilaighthe means “ingenious”.

Hennessey

Variant: Hensey, Henchy

In Irish: Ó hAonghusa

Found in: Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary

Origin: Gaelic

Son of Aonghus or Angus. Not necessarily always the same ancestor.

Hickey

In Irish: O hIcidhe

Found in: Clare, Limerick, Tipperary.

Origin: Gaelic

The name is derived from the Irish for “healer”

Higgins

In Irish: Ó hUigin,

Found in: Widespread

Origin: Gaelic

Derived from the Irish “uigín” meaning “knowledge”. Some are a branch of the Westmeath O’Neill family.

Hogan

In Irish: Ó hÓgain,

Found in: Clare, Limerick, Tipperary

Origin: Gaelic

Derived from “Óg” which is Irish for “young”. Some lines descend from the 10th century King of Ireland, Brian Boru.

Jennings

In Irish: MacSheóinín

Found in: West of Ireland

Origin: Norman

Means “son of little John”, the John in question was a member of the Burke (DeBurgo) family.

Jorden

In Irish: Mac Siurtáin

Found in: Scattered

Origin: Gaelic

An Anglicisation of the surname Mac Siurtáin. As a first name, it’s a Hebrew place name (River Jordan), meaning “flowing down”.

Joyce

In Irish: Ó Seoighe

Found in: Galway, the West of Ireland

Origin: Norman

Derived from the French personal name Joie or Joy.