Garry
A surname that can be either Irish or Scottish, often linked to a personal name in one tradition and to a place-name in another.
The #9,461 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 89,778 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Garry has more than one possible source. Irish evidence connects it with Gaelic surnames such as O'Gara and MacGarragher, suggesting a Gaelic personal-name origin rather than a single fixed English word. Some English and Scottish sources also treat Garry as a local surname, tied to place-names in Scotland, while older scholarship sometimes related it to a personal name like Geri.
History
The name appears in both Irish and Scottish contexts, and historical spelling forms include Gery and Gerry as well as Garry. In Ireland, it is associated with surnames such as O'Gara and related anglicized forms; in Scotland, it can also reflect local naming from place-names. Because several traditions overlap, the surname has been recorded in more than one independently developed line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books note Garry among a cluster of names that could be spelled in several different ways depending on region and clerical habit.
From the historical record
“rugged, mountainous. GARRY. Local. A town in Scotland. GARTH. (Welsh.) Local. A hill or promontory; Gart, Gaelic, a head. GASKELL. (Gaelic.) From Gaisgeil, valorous. GASTON. Local. From Gastein, a town in Bavaria. Also a brave or valorous man, ^m Gais, Gaelic, bravery, valor, and duin, a man. GATES. LocaL Gate, in…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names