Irish Last Names Beginning With G (With Meanings)

Are you interested in the origins and meaning of an Irish last name that begins with G?

This article lists over one hundred Irish surnames that had birth registrations in early 20^th century Ireland and also appear in the 2010 American census.

We’ll also give the origins and meanings of the most popular names.

Most Common Irish Surnames Starting With G

Let’s start with some of the most common names in Ireland between 1923-32 that also had at least ten thousand bearers in the 2010 U.S. census.

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-33	2010 U.S. Census
Gallagher	3,586	69,834
Griffin	1,688	198,406
Gorman	951	31,788
Galvin	806	11,882
Greene	719	126,101
Gaffney	706	12,805
Gannon	667	14,981
Gibbons	615	29,824
Gavin	510	14,061
Gill	496	74,948
Grady	463	26,103
Garvey	458	11,307

Why take Irish birth registrations from 1923 to 1932?

The second column is the number of Irish birth registrations over ten years starting in 1923.

The reason I chose that start date was that the Republic of Ireland was established the previous year. Starting in 1923 excluded birth locations in Northern Ireland.

Otherwise, the number of English and Scottish names would take longer to filter out of this list.

Origins And Meanings Of Irish Surnames Starting With G

Let’s run through the origins and meanings of these top names.

I’ve put them in alphabetical order here.

Gaffney

This is a name that has two different origins in Ireland.

One version is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó Gamhna, or “descendant of Gamhain”. The meaning comes from the Irish word for a calf (gamhain).

The other origin is the Gaelic name Mac Fhactna, or “son of Fachtna”. There are several theories as to the origins of Fachtna.

Woulfe’s “Irish Names and Surnames” points to several Irish saints of this name. The most well-known was an Abbot of a monastery in Cork in the sixth century and established a school there.

Gallagher

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó Gallchobhair or descendant of Gallchobhar. The meaning comes from the Irish words for foreigner (gall) and help (camhair).

One medieval manuscript mentions an abbot of the name in Donegal who died in 1022 AD.

The Gallaghers have a long history in Ireland as a powerful clan in Donegal and beyond.

Galvin

This is the English form of the Gaelic name Ó Gealbháin. The meaning comes from the words for bright (geal) and white (bán).

Historically, they were a clan of the Dalcassians who were powerful families in Munster.

Gannon

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Mac Fhionnáin, or “son of Fionnáin”.

The meaning comes from the Gaelic word fionn which means fair-haired.

Garvey

This name comes from the Gaelic Ó Gairbhshíth.

The meaning comes from the Irish words for rough (garbh) and peace (síth).

Gavin

This is the English form of the Gaelic name Ó Gábháin.

The meaning comes from the Irish word for danger.

Gibbon

In Ireland, this is a shortened variant of the name Fitzgibbon.

Fitzgibbon has what’s known as Anglo-Norman origins. The “Fitz” is the give-away. But who were the Anglo-Normans?

After William the Conqueror led the Norman Conquest of Britain, the Normans who settled in England (the Anglo-Normans) then spread through Ireland.

The Anglo-Norman leader, Strongbow, sent a small band of knights to invade southern Ireland in 1169. The name Fitzgibbon appears in County Mayo shortly afterward.

“Fitz” means “son of” or “descendant of”, so the name Fitzgibbon means “son of Gibbon”.

Gill

This name has different origins and meanings depending on the region.

The Irish name comes from the Gaelic Mac Giolla, or “son of Gill”.

The meaning comes from the Irish word for a young male servant (giolla).

Gorman

This is the English form of the Gaelic names Ó Gormáin or Mac Gormáin.

The meaning comes from the Irish word for dark blue (gorm).

The clans of this name have a long history, especially in Munster. One branch became marshalls to the O’Briens in the 13^th century and received lands in County Clare.

The O’Briens had a long line of kings of Thomond in Munster.

Grady

This is a variant of O’Grady which comes from the Gaelic Ó’Gradaigh or Ó’Gráda.

The meaning comes from the Irish word for noble.

The Ó’Gráda or O’Grady families have a long history in Ireland. Donogh O’Grady was knighted by King Henry VIII in 1543 which ensured that the clan held their lands.

Greene and Green

This is another name with different origins depending on the European region. But the English and Irish names have a similar meaning.

The Irish form comes from the Gaelic name Ó hUainín, or descendant of Uainín. The meaning comes from the Irish word for the color green (uaine).

Griffin

Griffin is a name with different meanings and origins depending on the region. The Welsh version has different origins to the Irish version.

The Irish name comes from the Gaelic Ó Gríobhtha, or descendant of Gríobhtha. This translates from the Irish word gríobh, which refers to a mythical creature constructed from two animals i.e. a gryphon.

Some Background To The Anglicization Of Irish Surnames

You’ll find it easier to understand how Irish families changed their names with a bit more background to what we call Anglicization.

The use of surnames in Ireland dates back to the tenth century. Children adopted the first name of their father and prefixed it with “Mac” or “O”, which means “son” and “descendent of”.

These names were in the Gaelic language.

In later centuries when Ireland was under British rule, the use of the Gaelic language was curbed.

This led to the Irish making their names look and sound more English i.e. Anglicization.

The simplest way was to drop the O and Mac in front of a name.

Another way was to pick the nearest sounding English name.

The third way was to pick an English name that has the same meaning as the Gaelic name. The two names may sound completely different.

Other Irish Last Names From 1923 To 1932

We’ve gone in detail into the meanings and origins of the most common Irish names starting with G.

Here is a summary of the rest of the names ordered by the numbers in the 2010 U.S. census.

Above 5,000 bearers

I’ve removed the names we covered in detail earlier in this article.

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-33	2010 U.S. Census
Grant	519	142,277
Glenn	25	51,043
Gee	13	23,241
Garvin	34	13,536
Guinn	8	12,577
Geary	237	12,382
Grogan	338	11,400
Gillen	140	8,462
Gaynor	314	6,318
Gilligan	319	6,257

2,000 to 5,000 bearers in the census

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-33	2010 U.S. Census
Gormley	184	4,949
Gilroy	144	3,910
Galligan	224	3,663
Glennon	196	3,561
Griffen	42	3,495
Geraghty	616	3,465
Garry	170	3,439
Gaughan	207	3,423
Gowen	18	3,186
Griffey	5	3,035
Gleeson	948	2,919
Goggins	52	2,897
Giblin	140	2,794
Gately	98	2,599
Goggin	157	2,470
Gildea	111	2,049

From 1,000 to 2,000 bearers in the 2010 census

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-33	2010 U.S. Census
Ganley	16	1,979
Glancy	73	1,871
Gartland	54	1,828
Guilfoyle	170	1,751
Gaw	5	1,731
Guinan	160	1,727
Geoghegan	465	1,699
Gillan	59	1,694
Gillon	5	1,429
Greaney	220	1,413
Garrigan	26	1,372
Ghee	10	1,300
Glavin	63	1,296
Gettings	2	1,266
Gavigan	82	1,138
Gallivan	44	1,092
Gahan	219	1,085

From 500 to 1,000 bearers

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-33	2010 U.S. Census
Gaffey	93	940
Guider	9	938
Gallen	77	849
Greenan	65	813
Gorey	49	706
Glackin	22	694
Guiney	74	682
Glacken	4	652
Gerety	27	647
Gogan	26	646
Gillick	62	613
Gallery	12	613
Gallogly	23	612
Gilhooly	46	592
Ginty	109	565
Goldrick	43	557
Gath	13	556
Gilboy	5	553
Gargan	93	551
Granahan	15	531
Ging	40	518
Ginley	12	512

Under five hundred bearers

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-33	2010 U.S. Census
Goonan	35	419
Gilleran	59	409
Galway	21	399
Gaughran	48	397
Geelan	39	363
Gavaghan	67	317
Gilton	7	301
Guinee	6	299
Gearty	18	289
Greany	50	281
Gilhooley	9	278
Gilsenan	161	272
Guinane	38	270
Geagan	7	252
Gawley	11	184
Grannell	19	170
Gilleece	11	168
Grenham	43	155
Gaule	50	149
Glavey	17	141
Guiry	65	137
Gilgan	30	123

Sources

• Irish Civil Birth Registrations
• Irish Names and Surnames by Reverend Patrick Woulfe
• Dictionary of American Family Names by Patrick Hanks