HEGARTY
Hegarty is an Irish surname that, like many in the British Isles, traces its origin to Gaelic patronymic forms. In the Irish language the name appears as Ó hÉigeartaigh or O hEigceartaigh, which translates literally to “descendant of Éigeartach.” The personal name Éigeartach is thought to be derived from the word éigeart, meaning “unusual” or “strange.” Alternate explanations record the same root as meaning “unjust,” reflecting early medieval attitudes toward the individual from whom the name was taken.
A distinct line of scholarship links the surname to the Gaelic Mac Eachaird or Mac Eachdhruaidh. These forms translate to “son of the horse‑lord” and denote families that possessed hereditary rights to horse breeding. The tradition associated with this derivation is particularly evident in counties such as Clare, Kerry, Cork and Limerick, where the identity of the Hegarpys as horse‑breeders has been recorded for centuries.
Statistical evidence shows that Hegarty remains one of the most common surnames in Ireland. The 2018 Irish census recorded 809 individuals listing the name in its standard form. Geographically, the surname is best represented in County Cork, especially in the western baronies of Barrymore and Carbery West, and in the northern provinces of Ulster, from Donegal through to the Belfast area. Outside Ireland the surname has spread to the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia, with notable concentrations in the British Isles, the eastern seaboard of the United States and the southern states of Australia.
Variants of the name, arising from regional pronunciation shifts and Anglicisation processes, include Hegerty, Hegart, Hegarthy, Hegart‑Y and Heggarty. Each retains the same base structure but reflects differences in spelling conventions that evolved across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Hegarty sept belonged historically to the Cineál Eoghan, a kin group derived from Eoghan, son of Niall, a high‑king of Ireland of the fourth century. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the principal settlement of the family lay along the border of what is now County Donegal and County Derry, in the barony of Loughinsholin. By the seventeenth century, the family had further branches in Tirkeeran, Inishowen and, in the south, a branch settled in the Barony of Carbery in County Cork.
Heraldic tradition records for the Hegarty name a silver shield emblazoned with an oak tree uprooted in natural hues, above a red chief bearing three silver birds with black beaks and talons. The crest on the shield is depicted as an arm in armour, bent, grasping a scimitar. The first documented spelling appears in the Records of the Battle of Kinsale where a Maolmuire O Hegarty of O Niall’s army is recorded in 1602, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First.
Noteworthy individuals bearing the surname include Lieutenant‑Colonel Hegarty of Lally’s Regiment, who was honoured in 1747 by Louis XV of France for his military service, and Peter O Hegarty, who served as Governor of the Isle of Bourbon. These historical figures illustrate the reach of the Hegarty name beyond the small Irish provinces, into continental Europe and colonial administration.
Typical given names associated with the Hegarty surname
Male
- Christopher
- Daniel
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Patrick
- Paul
- Peter
- Sean
- William
Female
- Anne
- Catherine
- Claire
- Dorothy
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Kathleen
- Laura
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sarah
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Hegarty in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 4,179 people named Hegarty in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,231st most common surname in Britain. Around 64 in a million people in Britain are named Hegarty.
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Ireland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
Famous people named Hegarty
- Paul Hegarty - Scottish football player and manager
- Nick Hegarty - Football player
- Chris Hegarty - Scottish football player
- Timothy John Hegarty -
- John Hegarty - Rugby player (1925 to 2016)
- Anton Hegarty - Irish cross-country runner (1892 to 1944)
- Kirsty Hegarty -
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.