McGarvey
An Irish surname meaning “son of Garbhaidh” or, in older explanations, “son of a rough person.”
The #8,389 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 78,262 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McGarvey is an Anglicized Irish surname built from Mac, meaning “son,” plus a personal name or byname. The 19th-century sources point to an Irish form related to garbh/garbeaig, a word cluster meaning “rough” or “coarse,” so the name has often been explained as “son of the rough one.” In practice, many Irish surnames of this type preserve an older personal name whose exact historical form can be hard to pin down with certainty.
History
The surname is found in Ireland, especially in the northwest, and later in Irish diaspora communities abroad. The spelling McGarvey reflects an English-language rendering of an older Gaelic surname, with Mac and Mc used interchangeably in modern records. The family name is sometimes treated as related to other Mac- names built on similar Gaelic root words.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older writers often glossed it very literally as “son of a rough person,” which makes it one of the more vividly translated Irish surnames.
From the historical record
“triAc 5Ait*beit, rriAc gAinbic, MacGarvey, Garvey. ITlAC gATTinA, MacGowan, Ma- gowan, Magowen ; Gaffney triAC gAoite, MacGeehee ; Mac”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames