Irish
A surname or nickname meaning “Irish” or “from Ireland,” often first used to identify someone by origin.
The #4,813 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 42,086 Americans shares it.
Etymology
As a surname, Irish is usually a descriptive label for a person from Ireland or for someone thought of as Irish in origin. The word itself is the English ethnonym for the people of Ireland, ultimately tied to the island’s name and identity rather than to a trade or place-name within England. In older naming practice, such labels often began as nicknames and later became inherited family names.
History
Lower’s 19th-century discussion treats Irish among surnames formed by ethnic or regional description, though his page is really about Irish naming habits more broadly. In English-speaking countries, Irish has also sometimes been adopted or recorded as a byname for immigrants from Ireland or their descendants. The surname is relatively uncommon in the United States, but its meaning would have been immediately transparent in English.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it is such a direct ethnic label, Irish is one of the few surnames that can function almost like a built-in clue to ancestral origin.
From the historical record
“IRISH SURNAMES. xxiii to this lie replied in tlie affirmative. This apparent discrepancy was explained to tlie court by Mr, Taunton (afterwards Sir William Taunton, and a Judge of the Court of King's Bench), who stated that Evan is the Welsh synonym of John, and Evans that of Jones ; and that John Jones might be…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom