Ireland
A surname for someone from Ireland, the island and country in the northwestern edge of Europe.
The #2,445 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 20,861 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is a straightforward ethnic or regional name formed from the place-name Ireland. In medieval and later English usage, it could identify a person who came from Ireland or was otherwise associated with the country. The literal sense is simply “an Irishman” or “one from Ireland.”
History
The name is well established in English records and later spread widely in Britain and North America. As with many country-names used as surnames, it may have been applied to migrants or outsiders who were identified by origin. It has remained common enough to be recognizable today, though it is not among the most frequent English surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower explicitly glossed the surname as meaning “a native of that country — an Irishman.”
From the historical record
“Lincoln, and Chester. IRELAND, A native of that country — an Irishman, IREMONGER, Not a dealer in wrath, but a corruption of Ironmonger, Le Irmon- gere. II. R. IRETON, A parish in Derbyshire, which belonged to tlie family temp. Richard Coeur- de-Lion. Henry, brother of Sewallis, lord of Eatington, co. Warwick…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom