Surname O'Mealey - Meaning and Origin
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O'Mealey: What does the surname O'Mealey mean?
The last name O'Mealey is an anglicized version of the Irish surname Ó Míolthaigh, which is derived from the Irish word 'meala', meaning 'honeycomb'. The surname was primarily used for families with connections to the County Leitrim in the province of Connacht. In fact, the name is still most common in this area today.
The origin story of the Ó Míolthaigh family is believed to date back to the 10th-century king of Ui Maine, Tadhg Míolthaigh, sometimes known as Thaddeus the Honeycomb. It is from him that the Ó Míolthaigh family derived its surname.
Many members of the Ó Míolthaigh family left Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries, immigrating to areas such as the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. That is likely where the surname evolved to become the O'Mealey spelling.
The O'Mealey last name is associated with many prominent figures, such as Mary O'Mealey, a 19th-century American politician who was the first woman ever to be elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. It is also associated with the professional cyclist Sean O'Mealey. In more recent years, notable figures with this last name have included the NFL player Matt O'Mealey and the musician Gerry O'Mealey.
In short, the O'Mealey last name is an anglicized version of the Irish surname Ó Míolthaigh an Irish word derived from 'meala', meaning 'honeycomb'. It was likely changed as a result of immigration from Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries. There have been many notable people with this name throughout history.
Order DNA origin analysisO'Mealey: Where does the name O'Mealey come from?
The last name O'Mealey is most common today in Ireland, the United States, and Australia. The surname originated in Ireland and is derived from the Gaelic O Maolmhichíl, which translates to “descendant of Maolmhichíl.”
In Ireland, the O’Mealey surname is primarily found in counties Limerick and Cork. The majority of Irish records for the surname can be found from the mid-1600s onward. The O'Mealey birth records reach 470 separate entries. It is also possible to trace a dual lineage, where the O'Mealeys descend from both the O'Briens and the O'Tooles.
In the United States, the O'Mealey surname is most common in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Immigration records show an influx of O'Mealey families arriving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, largely from Ireland. Some ancestors also left Ireland at the time of the Great Famine, during the 1840s.
In Australia, the O'Mealey surname is found in the greatest concentrations in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. Many Irish emigrants came to Australia for the gold rushes of the 1800s. They were mainly adults, since Australia's immigration policy of the time did not favor families, and the O'Mealey migration flow started to rapidly increase.
Today, the O'Mealey surname is present in over 20 countries around the world, reflecting a diverse global heritage.
Variations of the surname O'Mealey
The variants, spellings, and surnames of the same origin for the surname O'Mealey are O'Mailey, O'Malia, and O'Malley.
The Irish Gaelic form of the surname is O'Maoiléaigh, which is derived from the personal name “Maol Éithigh” meaning “servant of Éithig” (a pagan god). It is believed that the O'Mealey family originally came from County Mayo in Ireland and that the surname was shared among other Irish families in the province of Ulster.
The spelling of the Gaelic form of the surname, as with many Irish surnames, may have varied over time from the original Gaelic form but the basic form of the surname is still the same. It has been spelt in all kinds of ways throughout the centuries - from O'Mailey, to O'mallay, to O'malia, to O'mealey.
Various other forms of the surname also arise as a result of dialectal differences. Meolay, Mealea, Malia, Miley, Morley, and Morely are just a few of the many variants.
In the United States, people of Irish descent may have further changed the spelling of their surname by adding a suffix -y or -ey to the name, as a result of anglicization. This is seen in surnames such as O'malley, O'melia, and O'melley.
Although the surnames may vary in spelling, they are all rooted in the same Gaelic or Irish surname, O'Mealey.
Famous people with the name O'Mealey
- Maureen O’Mealey, a Professor of Education at Australian Catholic University
- Shannon O'Mealey, a professional Footballer from the Solomon Islands
- Cathal O'Mealey, an Irish hurler
- Donnacha O'Mealey, a Galway hurler
- James O'Mealey, a professional surfer
- Eileen O'Mealey, a poet who won the Cúirt International Poetry Grand Prize
- John O'Mealey, a nepalese-Irish mountaineer and photographer
- Seamus O'Mealey, a former Kerry Gaelic Footballer
- Martin O'Mealey, a sports editor and broadcaster
- Sarah O'Mealey, a Gaelic footballer from Kildare, Ireland