Haughey — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó hEachaidh
Meaning: 'horseman (from each, a horse)'
Traditional stronghold: Armagh, Derry
Pronunciation: HAW-hee; Irish Ó hEachaidh: oh HAKH-ee
History of the Haughey name
Ó hEachaidh derives from the personal name Eochaidh, one of the most popular names of early Ireland, built on each, 'a horse', and usually understood as 'horseman'. The surname is thoroughly Ulster in character, historically found in Derry, Armagh, Down and Monaghan, and it shares its origin with Hoey, another anglicisation of the same Irish name. It entered every Irish household's vocabulary through Charles J. Haughey, the dominant and deeply controversial politician of late twentieth-century Ireland, whose parents came from Swatragh in County Derry; he served three times as Taoiseach between 1979 and 1992.
Variants: Hoey · Haughy
Famous bearers of the name
- Charles J. Haughey — Three-time Taoiseach and dominant, divisive figure of late twentieth-century Irish politics.
- Seán Haughey — Dublin TD and son of Charles J. Haughey.
- Denis Haughey — Founding member of the SDLP and Tyrone politician.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Connor · Doherty · McLoughlin · Kane · Garvey · O'Hanlon · Quigley