surnames.ie

Surnames by county · Munster

Most common surnames in County Limerick

Ryan was the commonest surname in Co. Limerick in 1911: 4,596 people, about one resident in 31. It was followed by O'Brien, O'Connor, Fitzgerald and O'Sullivan.

Counts are people living in the county on census night, with spelling variants combined (Sullivan and O'Sullivan count as one name).

Donegal Waterford Dublin Kilkenny Carlow Limerick Louth Tipperary Roscommon Meath Wicklow Cavan Cork Clare Galway Mayo Sligo Leitrim Offaly Laois Kildare Kerry Monaghan Wexford Longford Westmeath Tyrone Antrim Armagh Fermanagh Londonderry Down

The 25 commonest names, 1911

#SurnamePeoplePer 10,00019011926
1 Ryan 4,596 321 1 1
2 O'Brien 2,705 189 2 2
3 O'Connor 2,367 165 3 3
4 Fitzgerald 1,989 139 4 4
5 O'Sullivan 1,937 135 5 5
6 Hayes 1,689 118 6 7
7 O'Connell 1,603 112 8 9
8 Murphy 1,575 110 7 6
9 Walsh 1,481 103 9 8
10 Kelly 1,302 91 13 11
11 Sheehan 1,298 91 11 10
12 McNamara 1,294 90 14 13
13 McCarthy 1,271 89 10 12
14 Burke 1,219 85 12 17
15 Collins 1,213 85 16 14
16 O'Donnell 1,206 84 15 18
17 Moloney 1,128 79 18 15
18 Lynch 1,037 72 17 16
19 McMahon 948 66 21 19
20 Carroll 910 64 19 20
21 O'Dwyer 893 62 20 21
22 Kennedy 849 59 22 22
23 Hogan 815 57 24 24
24 Casey 809 56 23 28
25 Barry 773 54 25 23

The 1901 and 1926 columns give the name's rank in the county in that year; a dash means it was outside the top 40. Linked names have a full page with meaning, Irish forms and history.

Names most typical of Limerick

Among the 100 commonest Irish surnames, these were the most over-represented in Co. Limerick in 1911, compared with their share of Ireland's population as a whole.

  1. McNamara 5.49× 1,294 people · 90 per 10,000
  2. Hayes 5.25× 1,689 people · 118 per 10,000
  3. Sheehan 5.05× 1,298 people · 91 per 10,000
  4. Fitzgerald 4.78× 1,989 people · 139 per 10,000
  5. Ryan 4.59× 4,596 people · 321 per 10,000
  6. O'Dwyer 3.58× 893 people · 62 per 10,000
  7. O'Connell 3.46× 1,603 people · 112 per 10,000
  8. Hogan 3.39× 815 people · 57 per 10,000
  9. McMahon 3.03× 948 people · 66 per 10,000
  10. Collins 2.82× 1,213 people · 85 per 10,000

Questions about surnames in Limerick

What is the most common surname in County Limerick?

In the 1911 census the most common surname in Co. Limerick was Ryan, with 4,596 people, or about one resident in 31. The next most common were O'Brien, O'Connor, Fitzgerald and O'Sullivan. Ryan was still the commonest name in 1926.

Which surnames are most typical of County Limerick?

Compared with Ireland as a whole, the names most over-represented in Co. Limerick in 1911 (among the 100 commonest Irish surnames) were McNamara (5.49× the national rate), Hayes (5.25× the national rate), Sheehan (5.05× the national rate).

Ancestors from County Limerick?

Browse every townland and household in Co. Limerick in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses.

Limerick records on irishcensus.com