O'Dwyer — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O Duibhir
Meaning: 'descendant of Duibhir' (dubh, black or dark)
Traditional stronghold: Tipperary
Pronunciation: oh-DWY-er; Irish O Duibhir: oh DIV-ir
History of the O'Dwyer name
O'Dwyer derives from O Duibhir, built on dubh, meaning black or dark, likely an original nickname for hair or complexion. The sept held the territory of Kilnamanagh in County Tipperary, in the hill country of the county's south, from which they resisted encroachment for centuries and were noted for holding out against English forces well into the seventeenth century, including in the Cromwellian wars under the leadership of Colonel Edmund O'Dwyer. Their eventual dispossession followed the wider pattern of Gaelic Ireland's decline, but the name has remained strongly identified with Tipperary ever since, and it also became a notable Irish-American surname through nineteenth and twentieth-century emigration.
Variants: Dwyer · O'Dwire
Famous bearers of the name
- William O'Dwyer — Irish-born Mayor of New York City from 1946 to 1950
- Paul O'Dwyer — Irish-American lawyer and civil rights advocate, President of the New York City Council
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Brien · Ryan · Kennedy · Carroll · Hogan · Tobin · Keating · Egan