Lough
A surname that can arise from a place-name or from Irish/Gaelic names built on lough, meaning “lake” or “inlet.”
The #8,986 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 84,797 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English, Lough is usually a locational surname from a place called Lough or from a topographic name built on the word lough, meaning a lake or sea inlet. In Irish usage, it can also be connected with Gaelic names containing lough/loch, especially in older forms that were anglicized in different ways. The ultimate root is the Celtic word for a body of water, so the basic sense is “the lake/inlet” or “person from the place by the lough.”
History
The excerpts show the name appearing alongside Irish surnames and place-based forms such as Loughlin and Loughney, which fits a family-name history rooted in Irish anglicization as well as English locality. In Britain and Ireland, spellings with Lough often became fixed in parish records and later civil registration, with pronunciation varying by region and family. The surname is uncommon in the modern United States, but its spelling is stable enough to have persisted across several centuries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Celtic word behind this surname also appears in many place-names, and in Irish and Scottish usage it commonly means a lake or fjord-like inlet.
From the historical record
“[The place is prob. named from Loch Skene, as there is also a Loch Skene in Dumfriesshire (as well as a Lough Skean in Ireland); and as several lochs are narned from the colour of their water the connex- ion maybe with Gael. sgean(n, cleanliness, brightness, app. cognate with O.Norse skina = E. 'shine']”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)