McGarry
An Irish surname meaning “son of the short one,” though some early writers treated it as a Gaelic nickname name with nearby variants.
The #5,026 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,220 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally taken from Irish Mac Gearraigh, literally “son of Gearraigh.” The element gearr means “short,” so the name was understood as a nickname-based patronymic, roughly “son of a short person.” Older scholarship also links related spellings such as McGarey and McGeary to the same Irish root.
History
The name is associated with Irish families and appears in older surname lists in several spellings, including MacGarry, Magarry, MacGeary, and McGeary. Nineteenth-century writers often grouped it with similar Irish names built from descriptive nicknames, reflecting the way anglicized forms varied by place and record-keeper. It is still found today in Ireland and especially in the Irish diaspora, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname indexes often list McGarry alongside McGeary and McGarey because the spellings could blur together in handwritten records.
From the historical record
“niA5 f^eAiiA-oAis, MacGarry, Magarry, MacGeary, Mac Gerry, MacGherry, Megarry,”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames