Farrell
An Irish surname from the Gaelic personal name Fergal, meaning roughly “man of valor” or “man of strength.”
The #652 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,901 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Farrell is the Anglicized form of the Irish surname O'Farrell, from the Gaelic personal name Fergal (also written Fearghal). The name is usually explained as combining elements meaning “man” and “bravery,” “valor,” or “strength,” though older sources vary slightly in their glosses. In origin it was a clan name rather than a nickname, identifying descent from an ancestor named Fergal.
History
The Farrells are traditionally associated with the Irish clan O'Fergail, especially in counties Longford and surrounding areas. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century surname writers often note the dropping of the prefix O' in ordinary use, so Farrell and O'Farrell became common side by side. The name is well established in Ireland and later spread widely through emigration, especially to Britain, North America, and Australia.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some Irish surname collections list Farrell alongside a whole cluster of related spellings and Anglicized forms, reflecting how one clan name could splinter into many local written versions.
From the historical record
“of Ferrers. FARRELL. The Farrells, now of Dalyston. spring from the O'Ferrals of Mornyng and Bawn, co. Langford, who were of the clan Boy. B.L.G. FARRER. See Ferrers. FARRIER. See under Shoesmith and Marshall. FARRINGDON. Alsi de Farendone was a tenant in capite in the county of”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom