Hoey
An Irish surname usually treated as a short form of MacHoey, traditionally linked to the Gaelic name meaning “son of Hugh.”
The #8,163 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 76,008 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is commonly explained as a reduced form of MacHoey, itself an Anglicized rendering of a Gaelic patronymic. The historical sources here connect MacHoey with MacKay and with Gaelic forms meaning “son of Hugh,” so the broad sense is a Hugh-based family name. In that tradition, Hoey is what remains after the Mac- prefix was dropped.
History
Irish records and surname studies place Hoey chiefly in Ireland, especially in Ulster and in later southward and diaspora distributions. The name appears in 19th-century surname dictionaries as a variant related to MacKay/Mac Aodha, showing how Gaelic names were often simplified in English spelling. Some sources also note that Hoey could occasionally be confused with or influenced by the separate name Hoy.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century dictionary explicitly says Hoey and Mackay were thought to be the same name in different dress, with the prefix removed from Hoey.
From the historical record
“HOPjSE. The same as Husee or Hussey. HOEY. Originally MacHoey, a corrup- tion of MacKay, but retaining a similar pronunciation. HOFFiNIAlSr. Germ, hofmann, a com-- tier. HOG. See Hogg. HOGARTH. A place in Westmoreland. HOGBEN. HOGBIN. Probably a pig-”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom