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Irish surname

May: Irish Surname History & Coat of Arms

Mac Máighe; Mac Máigheóc; Máighiú; Ó Miadhaigh (four separate Woulfe entries) · Woulfe gives four different meanings: 'son of May' (short for Maheu, i.e. Matthew); 'son of Mayoc' or 'Mayog' (diminutive of Maheu); 'son of Maheu' (a Norman form of Matthew); and 'descendant of Miadhach' (honourable)

Woulfe (1923) prints May as a form under four separate entries, three of them from forms of Matthew (Maheu) and one, Ó Miadhaigh, from a personal name Miadhach meaning 'honourable'. He gives no single origin for the English spelling May. In 1890, Matheson counts 28 birth entries in Ireland including spelling varieties (25 spelled May), with Sligo named as where the name was principally found.

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Coat of arms associated with the May surname
Irish formMac Máighe; Mac Máigheóc; Máighiú; Ó Miadhaigh (four separate Woulfe entries)
MeaningWoulfe gives four different meanings: 'son of May' (short for Maheu, i.e. Matthew); 'son of Mayoc' or 'Mayog' (diminutive of Maheu); 'son of Maheu' (a Norman form of Matthew); and 'descendant of Miadhach' (honourable)
CountiesSligo, Westmeath, Cork and Waterford
Other spellings5

Origin of the May name

Woulfe lists May under Mac Máighe ('son of May', short for Maheu, i.e. Matthew); Mac Máigheóc, a name assumed by a branch of the Condon family in East Cork and Waterford; Máighiú ('Norman form of Matthew', very rare); and Ó Miadhaigh, 'an old Westmeath surname'.[1][2][3][4]

  1. 1186Woulfe: an Ó Miadhaigh cuts off Sir Hugh de Lacy's head at Durrow castle.[4]
  2. 189028 May birth entries including spelling varieties (25 spelled May); principally found in Sligo.[5]

Where in Ireland

Co. SligoMatheson names Sligo as the county in which May was principally found in 1890.[5]
Co. WestmeathWoulfe: Ó Miadhaigh is 'an old Westmeath surname', still found in the midlands but now more frequently in Roscommon and southern Mayo.[4]
Co. Cork and WaterfordWoulfe: the Mac Máigheóc branch of the Condon family, in East Cork and Waterford.[2]

Other spellings

Mawe · Mea · MacMay · Mayhew · Mee[1][3][6]

The May coat of arms

The design shown is a coat of arms associated with the May surname. In Irish and British heraldry a coat of arms is granted to one person and passes to their heirs; it does not belong to everyone who shares the surname. Many families still use the arms of their name as a symbol of their heritage.

May crest gifts

Clan May Coat Of Arms - Irish Family Crest Classic Cap YG30 May Coat Of Arms Irish Cap May Coat Of Arms - Irish Family Crest Classic Cap£26.00Clan May Coat Of Arms - Irish Family Crest St Patrick's Day Classic CapCV99 Classic Cap - May Coat Of Arms St Patrick's Day Classic Cap Irish Cap May Coat Of Arms - Irish Family Crest St Patrick's Day Classic Cap£33.00

May surname: questions

What does the surname May mean in Irish?

Woulfe prints May under four entries. Mac Máighe is 'son of May' (short for Maheu, i.e. Matthew); Mac Máigheóc is 'son of Mayoc' or 'Mayog', a diminutive of Maheu; Máighiú is 'son of Maheu', a Norman form of Matthew; Ó Miadhaigh is 'descendant of Miadhach' (honourable).[1][2][3][4]

Is May an Irish or a Norman name in Ireland?

Woulfe calls Maheu 'the Norman-French form of Matthew' and says the Condon branch in East Cork and Waterford took the patronymic Mac Máigheóc. He also lists May under Ó Miadhaigh, which he calls an old Westmeath surname. His entries do not say which of these a given May family descends from.[2][3][4]

Where in Ireland was the May name found?

Matheson's 1890 birth index names Sligo as where May was principally found. Woulfe places Ó Miadhaigh in Westmeath, with the name now found in Roscommon and the southern parts of Mayo, and the Condon branch in East Cork and Waterford.[5][2][4]

Who cut off the head of Sir Hugh de Lacy?

Woulfe writes that it was an Ó Miadhaigh, 'by cutting off his head with a blow of an axe at the castle of Durrow in 1186'.[4]

Sources

  1. Mac Máighe — Irish Names and Surnames (Rev. Patrick Woulfe, 1923), transcribed, LibraryIreland.com. libraryireland.com/names/macm/mac-maighe.php
  2. Mac Máigheóc, Mac Máigheóg — Irish Names and Surnames (Rev. Patrick Woulfe, 1923), transcribed, LibraryIreland.com. libraryireland.com/names/macm/mac-maigheoc-mac-maigheog.php
  3. Máighiú — Irish Names and Surnames (Rev. Patrick Woulfe, 1923), transcribed, LibraryIreland.com. libraryireland.com/names/mai/maighiu.php
  4. Ó Miadhaigh — Irish Names and Surnames (Rev. Patrick Woulfe, 1923), transcribed, LibraryIreland.com. libraryireland.com/names/om/o-miadhaigh.php
  5. May — Birth Indexes of 1890 — Special Report on Surnames in Ireland (Robert E. Matheson, 1909), transcribed, LibraryIreland.com. libraryireland.com/matheson/report/births/may.php
  6. May — Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland (Robert E. Matheson, 1901), transcribed, LibraryIreland.com. libraryireland.com/matheson/varieties/list/1202.php

Note: Matheson's 1890 figures for a surname include its spelling varieties (Matheson, Table Explanation).