Balfe — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O Beollain
Meaning: uncertain, possibly 'good-mouthed'
Traditional stronghold: Mayo, Roscommon
Pronunciation: BALF
History of the Balfe name
Balfe is one of several anglicisations of the Gaelic O Beollain, a Roscommon and Mayo sept whose name is generally traced to beol, 'mouth', though its exact original sense is uncertain. The same root also produced the surnames Boland and Boylan in different areas, so Balfe represents one regional strand of a wider family of anglicisations rather than a single unrelated name. It remained rare and localised, making its most famous 19th-century bearer, a Dublin-born composer, unusual in bringing the name to wide public notice.
Variants: Boland (related) · Bolan · Balf
Famous bearers of the name
- Michael William Balfe — Dublin-born composer of the opera The Bohemian Girl
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Kelly · Walsh · O'Connor · Murray · Brennan · Burke · Flynn · Flanagan