Markey
An Irish surname most likely meaning “horseman” or “rider,” with a long association in Irish and some English records.
The #6,286 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,807 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Markey is generally explained as an Irish surname from Gaelic marcach, meaning “horseman” or “rider,” from marc, “horse.” Older writers also treated it as a cognate or Anglicized form linked to the English name Markham, but the Irish explanation is the one most directly supported in the sources here. In that sense, the name began as a descriptive byname for someone known for riding or horsemanship.
History
Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Irish name scholars note Markey in Ulster and parts of the north and west of Ireland, and one source specifically reports it as common in County Louth. Matheson also records that in some districts Markey was used interchangeably with Rhyder, showing how fluid surnames could be in local Irish usage. The name later spread through emigration, which helps explain its presence in the modern United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A contemporary source says that in some Irish districts Markey and Rhyder were treated as essentially the same family name.
From the historical record
“[O.E. m(e)arc\ MARKEY (Celt.) Horseman, Rider [Ir. mar- each = Gael, marcaiche — marc, a horse] MARKHAM (Eng.) Bel. to Markham = the Mark- or Boundary- Land [O.E. m{e)arc + hamifri] MARKLAND (Eng.) Dweller at the Mark- or Boundary-Land [O.E. m{e)arc + land] MARKS \ I Mark's (Son) : v. Mark'”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)