Gibbons — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Giobúin
Meaning: 'son of Gib (Gilbert)'
Traditional stronghold: Mayo
Pronunciation: GIB-unz; Irish Mac Giobúin: mok gih-BOON
History of the Gibbons name
Gibbons in Connacht is a gaelicised Norman name: branches of the great Burke family in Mayo adopted the patronymic Mac Giobúin, 'son of Gib', a pet form of Gilbert, and over time this hardened into a hereditary surname. The Gibbons families were thus Irish in speech and custom but Norman in remote origin, a common pattern in the west. County Mayo remains the name's heartland, particularly the Westport and Newport districts. Emigration carried it strongly to America, where Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore, child of parents who returned for a time to Ballinrobe, became the most influential Catholic churchman of his era.
Variants: Gibbon · McGibbon
Famous bearers of the name
- James Gibbons — Cardinal Archbishop of Baltimore, towering figure of the American church, of Mayo parentage.
- Luke Gibbons — Leading scholar of Irish literature, film and cultural history.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Walsh · Burke · Moran · Higgins · Conway · Costello · Jennings · Browne