Sharkey — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Searcaigh
Meaning: 'beloved' (from searc, love)
Traditional stronghold: Donegal, Tyrone
Pronunciation: SHAR-kee; Irish Ó Searcaigh: oh SHAR-kee
History of the Sharkey name
Ó Searcaigh derives from searcach, 'loving' or 'beloved', built on searc, one of the Irish words for love. The sept originated in the northwest, and the name has always been most at home in Donegal, Tyrone and Derry; it later spread into Sligo and north Connacht. It was anglicised phonetically as Sharkey, with the O rarely resumed, and the accidental echo of the English word 'shark' is just that - an accident. The name remained modest in rank but tenacious in place, and the Gaelic original is still alive in Donegal, most visibly in the poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh. Emigration carried Sharkeys in numbers to Scotland and America.
Variants: Sharkie · O'Sharkey
Famous bearers of the name
- Feargal Sharkey — Derry-born singer of the Undertones, later a campaigner for Britain's rivers.
- Cathal Ó Searcaigh — Donegal poet, among the most celebrated writing in modern Irish.
- Kevin Sharkey — Donegal-born artist and broadcaster.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Neill · Gallagher · Quinn · Boyle · Doherty · Sweeney · O'Donnell · Duffy