Fahey
An Irish surname usually linked to Gaelic Ó Fathaigh, meaning a descendant of a man named Fathach or Fathadh.
The #3,811 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,202 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Fahey is generally treated as an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic Ó Fathaigh. The underlying personal name is usually explained from a Gaelic root connected with a name like Fathach or Fathadh, though the exact older form can be handled differently by different scholars. In plain English, the surname means a descendant of an ancestral bearer of that Gaelic personal name.
History
The name is strongly associated with western Ireland, especially Galway, where 19th-century surname surveys record both Fahy and Fahey in significant numbers. Older Irish surname scholarship often groups Fahey with Fahy, Fay, and related spellings as English spellings of the same Gaelic family name. The surname later spread through emigration and is now found in Ireland, Britain, North America, and other English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Matheson’s 1894 Irish surname statistics, Galway shows Fahy more often than Fahey, suggesting both spellings were actively in use in the same area.
From the historical record
“Farrelly, Farley, etc. 0 "Paic, Fahey, Fahy, Fay, Foy. O PaIcai-o, Falahee, Falahy, Falsey. 6 PaIcaii^, Fallaher. 6 -pAllAriiAiTi, Falloon, Faloon,”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames