Irish Last Names Beginning With H (With Meanings)

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

This article lists 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 H

Let’s start with Irish names that had at least five hundred births in Ireland between 1923 and 1932.

We’ve also included the numbers in the 2010 U.S. census.

Bear in mind that many names come from several different regions and have multiple origins. So, a Higgins family in the United States may be the descendants of Irish ancestors and have one meaning or may descend from English ancestors with a different meaning.

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-32	U.S. Census 2010
Healy	2,316	21,751
Hayes	1,993	194,246
Hughes	1,518	236,271
Hickey	1,390	29,350
Higgins	1,334	79,803
Hurley	1,065	39,796
Hennessy	1,008	9,338
Hegarty	798	3,355
Heffernan	764	6,961
Harte	664	3,202
Hanlon	603	10,278
Hanley	524	19,240
Hannon	501	11,893

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 H

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

Healy

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hÉilidhe. I explain “Anglicization” more fully in a later section.

Here, I’ll simply say that it’s a way of taking an old Gaelic surname and turning it into a name that sounds or seems English.

The “Ó” in Ó hÉilidhe means “descendant of”, so this name means the descendant of Éaladhach.

So, who was Éaladhach, The meaning comes from the Irish words for ingenious or scientific. Early families were located in what is now County Sligo.

Hayes and Hughes

These are names that have separate origins in England.

In Ireland, they are both Anglicized forms of the Gaelic name Ó hAodha, or descendant of Aodha.

The meaning comes from the Irish word for fire. Several powerful families across the land took variations of this name.

Hickey

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hÍceadh, or descendant of Ícidhe.

The meaning comes from the Irish word for a healer.

Higgins

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hUiginn, or descendant of Uige.

The meaning comes from the Irish words for knowledge and skill. The early bearers of the name were renowned as poets.

Hennessy

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hAonghusa, or descendant of Aonghus.

The meaning comes from Irish words for a single choice.

Hegarty

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hÉigceartaigh, or descendant of Éigceartach.

The meaning comes from Irish words for unjust.

Heffernan

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hIfearnáin, or descendant of Ifearnán

There isn’t complete agreement as to the meaning but some point to the Irish word for a demon.

Harte or Hart

This is another name that may have English origins instead of Irish.

In Ireland, the two variants are Anglicized forms of the Gaelic name Ó hAirt, or descendant of Art

The meaning comes from the Irish word for a bear or for a noble hero.

Hanlon

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hAnluain, or descendant of Anluan.

The meaning comes from the Irish words for a great champion or warrior.

Hanley

This is another name that may have English origins.

The Irish name is an Anglicized form of Ó hÁinle, or descendant of Áinle.

The meaning is similar to Hanlon in that it comes from the same words for a champion or warrior.

Hannon

This is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó hAnnáin, or descendant of Annán.

The meaning may come from Irish words for delay.

More About The Anglicization Of Irish Surnames

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

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 covered the meanings and origins of the most common names in Ireland through the 1920s.

Here are the other names. Remember that many of these names were brought to America from different regions where they had different meanings.

Over two hundred births

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-32	U.S. Census 2010
Hayden	444	37,451
Hanrahan	444	5,578
Halpin	423	5,865
Hartnett	348	6,387
Halloran	316	5,465
Heneghan	250	1,310
Hussey	234	9,176
Harnett	230	1,290
Hannigan	223	4,554
Herlihy	216	2,556
Harvey	213	115,662

Over one hundred births

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-32	U.S. Census 2010
Halligan	198	3,220
Hassett	198	3,576
Hannan	185	7,086
Hartigan	165	2,707
Harty	162	3,842
Hession	154	1,470
Haugh	148	3,558
Heaney	147	4,197
Harney	138	5,376
Hanratty	135	1,053
Herbert	132	26,417
Hagan	121	21,017
Hearne	118	3,554
Hennessey	101	8,357

Over ten births

Last Name	Irish Births 1923-32	U.S. Census 2010
Hallinan	99	1,565
Hardy	98	80,252
Hardiman	97	4,296
Hennigan	94	2,978
Harley	85	12,186
Hallahan	83	1,241
Harmon	83	74,737
Haughey	80	1,654
Heenan	78	1,970
Heslin	50	1,437
Hanna	44	39,890
Haire	37	5,794
Halley	35	3,943
Harrigan	27	6,646
Heffron	22	2,380
Hearn	15	15,234
Haren	13	1,041

Sources

• Irish Civil Birth Registrations
• Irish Names and Surnames by Reverend Patrick Woulfe