Adair
A surname usually taken from the Irish place-name Adare in County Limerick, later carried into Scotland and Ulster.
The #1,927 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,503 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical sources treat Adair as a locational surname from Adare in County Limerick, Ireland. The place-name is commonly explained from Gaelic elements meaning something like “ford of the oaks” or “oak ford,” though older writers differ on the precise breakdown. The surname was then adopted by a branch of the FitzGerald family associated with Adare, and the name spread from Ireland into Scotland and later Ulster.
History
Older accounts link the surname to a FitzGerald family settled at Adare, with later branches appearing in Galloway, Scotland, and then in Ulster. By the 19th century, the name was noted as especially found in parts of Ulster, including Antrim, Armagh, and Down. It also became established on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century tradition says the name was taken up after a hunting mishap near the Limerick place-name that gave the family its surname.
From the historical record
“Henry III, ADAIR. A branch of the great Anglo- Hibernian family of Fitz-Gerald settled at Adare, a village in co. Limerick, aud thus acquired the local surname. In the XV. ADL AGU”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom