Sheehy
An Irish surname most often treated as a variant of Sheehan, ultimately from an old Gaelic personal name meaning “peaceful” or “gentle.”
The #7,005 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 64,564 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is usually linked with the Irish name Ó Síocháin or a related form, and older writers often treated Sheehy as a variant of Sheehan. The Gaelic element síoch- refers to peace, so the name is commonly understood in the sense of “peaceful” or “peaceable.” Some 19th-century authors instead noted the form only as closely related to Sheehan, without giving a separate derivation.
History
Sheehy is an established Irish surname, especially associated with southern Ireland. Historical surname collections place it alongside names such as Sheehan and record it in Irish naming traditions rather than as an English import. In modern usage it is best known as an Irish family name that traveled widely through emigration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers sometimes grouped Sheehy and Sheehan so closely that they treated one as a near-doublet of the other.
From the historical record
“D'Alton. SHEEHY. Probably the same as Shee- han. SHEEL. SeeShiell. SHEEN E. SHEEN. 1. The original name of Riclimond, co. Surrey. 2. A-Sax. scinaii to shine, whence 0. Eng. sJwne, bright, shining — a word frequently em- ployed by our old poets.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom