Malone
An Irish surname from a Gaelic name meaning “devotee of St. John,” later Anglicized as Malone.
The #465 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,331 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally explained from Irish Gaelic forms built on maol, meaning “bald,” “tonsured,” or by extension “devotee,” plus Eoin, “John.” In older usage, this referred to a religious devotee or follower of St. John, rather than a literal physical description. The surname was later Anglicized into Malone, with related forms such as O’Malone and other spelling variants.
History
Nineteenth-century surname books commonly connect Malone with Irish families in Connacht and with an older Gaelic personal name. The form spread widely through Anglicization, so both Malone and O’Malone appear in historical records. Related spellings and variant forms also show up in Irish surname traditions, especially in older orthographies and regional transcription.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several 19th-century reference works gloss the name as “Bald John,” but in surname tradition that is really a shorthand for “tonsured devotee of St. John.”
From the historical record
“his name to Kilmallock in Limerick. MALONE (Celt.-1-Heb.) Servant or Disciple OF St. John: v. John [Ir. Mael Edin'\ MALONEY ) (Celt.) for the Irish O'MaoWAowA- MALONY \ naigh {dh and mh mute) = Grandson of the Servant or Disciple OF DoMHNACH [Ir. d or ua, grandson;”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Malone
- Karl Malone (b. 1963)
- Dorothy Malone (1924–2018)
- Moses Malone (1955–2015)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.