Lafferty — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Laithbheartaigh
Meaning: 'princely in deeds (from flaith and beartach)'
Traditional stronghold: Donegal, Tyrone
Pronunciation: LAF-er-tee; Irish Ó Laithbheartaigh: oh LAH-var-tee
History of the Lafferty name
Lafferty is the Ulster form of Ó Flaithbheartaigh, the same name that produced O'Flaherty in Connacht, combining flaith, a prince or ruler, with beartach, denoting deeds or actions; in the north the initial F was lost in speech, giving Ó Laithbheartaigh. The sept belonged to the Cenél nEógain and held territory in Donegal and Tyrone, where the name is still concentrated, alongside its close relatives Laverty and O'Laverty, which are commoner in Antrim and Down. The name crossed to Scotland with Ulster migration and to America in the nineteenth century, where it produced, among others, the singular science-fiction writer R. A. Lafferty.
Variants: Laverty · O'Laverty · Laherty
Famous bearers of the name
- Kyle Lafferty — Fermanagh-born striker with over 80 caps for Northern Ireland.
- R. A. Lafferty — American science-fiction writer of Irish descent, winner of the Hugo Award.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Neill · Gallagher · Quinn · Boyle · Doherty · Sweeney · O'Donnell · Duffy