Quigley
An Irish surname, usually from Ó Coigligh / Ó Cuigligh, meaning a descendant of a man named for “counsel” or “advice.”
The #2,113 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,033 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Quigley is the Anglicized form of Irish Ó Coigligh or Ó Cuigligh. The old dictionaries cited here connect it with a personal name based on an Irish word related to counsel or advice, ultimately from an older form meaning something like “counselor” or “one connected with advice.” In modern English the surname is best understood as an Irish patronymic: “descendant of Coigleach/Cuigleach.”
History
The name is long established in Ireland and was widely carried into English-speaking records through anglicized spellings such as Quigley, O'Quigley, and Cogley. Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century writers generally treated it as an Irish name, and it appears in American and British directories in recognizable modern form. The surname remains especially associated with Ireland and the Irish diaspora.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older scholarship sometimes tried to connect Quigley with other similar-looking surnames, but the Irish patronymic explanation is the one most consistently given in the classic surname dictionaries.
From the historical record
“guagin, a light, frivolous person] QUIGLEY (Celt.) for the Irish O'Coigligh or O'Cuigligh = Grandson or Descendant OF COIGLEACH Or CUIGLEACH [Ir. 6 OX ua, grandson + the gienit. of Coig- or Cuig- leach, app. f. O.Ir. ciiig, counsel, advice, with the plen. suff. -l{e)ach] QUILKIN (Celt. + Teut.) a contr. of Mac”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)