Nulty — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O Nuallain
Meaning: 'descendant of Nuallan' (from nuall, meaning fame or a cry/exclamation)
Traditional stronghold: Meath, Westmeath
Pronunciation: NUL-tee; Irish O Nuallain: oh NOO-lawn
History of the Nulty name
Nulty shares its Gaelic root, O Nuallain, with the far more numerous surname Nolan, both derived from nuall, a word carrying senses of both fame and of a shout or cry, but the two names developed as separate anglicisations of related or identical underlying families in different areas. Nulty became particularly associated with County Westmeath and County Meath in the midlands, distinguishing it from the broader national spread of Nolan. The surname has kept this regional identity strongly intact, and today Nulty remains most concentrated in Westmeath, Meath and neighbouring Longford, functioning as a distinctly midlands variant within the wider Nolan-Nulty naming group.
Variants: Nolty · Nolan (related root)
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Kelly · Daly · Plunkett · Cusack · Dillon · Nugent · Scully · Harte