surnames.ie

Irish surname · 78th most common in 1911

Hamilton

Hamilton is a Scottish surname taken from a place name, probably an English Hambledon or Hambleton. It came to Ireland chiefly with Scottish settlers in north Down from 1606 and in the Plantation of Ulster. In west Clare and south-west Cork it also served as an English form of two rare Gaelic surnames.

Irish de HamaltúnIrish Ó HamailltínIrish Ó hUrmoltaigh
1901 census
8,069
#81 · 18 per 10,000
1911 census
8,194
#78 · 19 per 10,000
1926 census
1,772
#313 · 6 per 10,000
Most numerous
Antrim
Highest share: Tyrone

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Scottish Scottish: a territorial surname of the Lowland house of Hamilton, brought to Ulster by 17th-century settlers, with two small Gaelic Irish families also adopting it as an English form.[1][2][3][4]

de Hamaltún
“of Hambledon or Hambleton”[1][5]
Woulfe's Irish rendering of the Scottish and English surname. He also lists a shorter form, Hamaltún.
Ó Hamailltín
Woulfe records this as a Gaelic name whose bearers used Hamilton in English, found in west Clare.
Ó hUrmoltaigh
“descendant of Urmoltach (or Turmoltach)”[4][6]
A rare south-west Cork surname that Woulfe found anglicised as Hamilton. The Dublin writer Hugo Hamilton was born Johannes Ó hUrmoltaigh.

Pronunciation

Hamilton: HAM-il-tun

Place

Where the Hamiltons lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 24 per 10,000 (404 people) Waterford: 4.3 per 10,000 (35 people) Dublin: 9.1 per 10,000 (435 people) Kilkenny: 7.5 per 10,000 (56 people) Carlow: 0.8 per 10,000 (3 people) Limerick: 2.6 per 10,000 (37 people) Louth: 4.4 per 10,000 (28 people) Tipperary: 1.6 per 10,000 (24 people) Roscommon: 2.7 per 10,000 (25 people) Meath: 7.4 per 10,000 (48 people) Wicklow: 17.6 per 10,000 (107 people) Cavan: 9.9 per 10,000 (90 people) Cork: 2.9 per 10,000 (114 people) Clare: 4.9 per 10,000 (51 people) Galway: 1 per 10,000 (19 people) Mayo: 1.9 per 10,000 (37 people) Sligo: 9.4 per 10,000 (74 people) Leitrim: 18.6 per 10,000 (117 people) Offaly: 4 per 10,000 (23 people) Laois: 4.9 per 10,000 (27 people) Kildare: 1.9 per 10,000 (13 people) Kerry: 1.2 per 10,000 (19 people) Monaghan: 20.4 per 10,000 (146 people) Wexford: 8.3 per 10,000 (85 people) Longford: 7.1 per 10,000 (31 people) Westmeath: 6.1 per 10,000 (37 people) Tyrone: 76.5 per 10,000 (1,093 people) Antrim: 44.6 per 10,000 (2,131 people) Armagh: 32.6 per 10,000 (390 people) Fermanagh: 34.9 per 10,000 (212 people) Londonderry: 37.6 per 10,000 (525 people) Down: 57.5 per 10,000 (1,758 people)
fewerup to 77 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Tyrone

77 per 10,000

1,093 Hamiltons · 4.1× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Tyrone 77
  2. Down 58
  3. Antrim 45
  4. Londonderry 38
  5. Fermanagh 35
  6. Armagh 33
  7. Donegal 24
  8. Monaghan 20

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim2,0142,131—4445—
Armagh365390—2933—
Carlow234111
Cavan91909391011
Clare495138454
Cork98114104233
Donegal409404312242420
Down1,6851,758—5858—
Dublin4884353761198
Fermanagh226212—3535—
Galway261910111
Kerry211916111
Kildare231326425
Kilkenny465661689
Laois322722654
Leitrim13011790191916
Limerick463743333
Londonderry532525—3738—
Longford4531201075
Louth382828645
Mayo443718221
Meath404845677
Monaghan159146139212021
Offaly242313443
Roscommon232515232
Sligo4974826912
Tipperary312412221
Tyrone1,1011,093—7377—
Waterford313532444
Westmeath393713662
Wexford8485908810
Wicklow7810770131812

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Hamiltons made up the largest share of the population. In Killanummery, Co. Leitrim, about one resident in 11 was a Hamilton.

DEDCountyHamiltonsShare
KillanummeryLeitrim47 9.1%
MagheranageenaghTyrone66 5.9%
BaronscourtTyrone37 5.3%
BallyshielArmagh39 5.2%
Fore GlenLondonderry36 4.4%
DoaghFermanagh15 4.2%
MountfieldTyrone16 4.2%
GortinTyrone43 4.1%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Hamilton lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

Hamiltons of Clandeboye and the Ards

Upper Clandeboye, the Great Ardes and Dufferin · Down

Founded by James Hamilton from Ayrshire, who was granted a share of Conn O'Neill's lands in north Down and brought Lowland Scots tenants there from 1606, four years before the Plantation of Ulster. He became Viscount Claneboye in 1622 and his son Earl of Clanbrassil in 1647; that line died out in 1675. Killyleagh Castle was their later seat.[7][8][9]

Hamiltons of Strabane (Abercorn)

Strabane, Donalong and Shean · Tyrone

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, a grandson of the 2nd Earl of Arran, was an undertaker in the Plantation of Ulster, granted lands confiscated from the O'Neills, and built a castle at Strabane. His heirs became Marquesses and, from 1868, Dukes of Abercorn, with their seat at Baronscourt near Newtownstewart.[10][11]

Hamiltons of Manorhamilton

barony of Dromahair, north Leitrim · Leitrim

Sir Frederick Hamilton, a younger brother of the 1st Earl of Abercorn, built up an estate of some 18,000 acres from O'Rourke land in the Plantation of Leitrim and built Manorhamilton Castle in 1634. His son Gustavus became the 1st Viscount Boyne.[12][13]

Ó Hamailltín of west Clare

west Clare · Clare

Woulfe notes this Gaelic surname, rendered Hamilton in English, only as being in use in west Clare. He gives no history or derivation.[3]

Ó hUrmoltaigh of south-west Cork

south-west Cork · Cork

A rare Gaelic surname, 'descendant of Urmoltach', which Woulfe found anglicised as Hamilton. Hamiltons of this origin are unrelated to the Scottish families.[4]

The name over time

History

A Scottish name from a place

Hamilton is a territorial surname. Woulfe traced it to the Norman forms de Hambledon and de Hambleton, which point to one of several English places of those names or to Hamilton in Scotland. Wikipedia places the family's first known ancestor, Walter fitz Gilbert, in a Paisley charter of about 1294 and the Homage Roll of 1296 as 'of Hameldone'. It suggests the name came from Humbleton or Homildon in Northumberland, or a place near Leicester. The Scottish town of Hamilton was originally Cadzow, a barony given to Walter by Robert the Bruce, and was renamed after the family in the 15th century.[1][2][14]

The house of Hamilton

The Hamiltons rose to great prominence in Lowland Scotland. James, 1st Lord Hamilton, married a daughter of James II in 1474, and their descendants became Earls of Arran. The 2nd Earl of Arran was regent for the young Mary, Queen of Scots, and was made Duke of Châtellerault in France. His son Claud became Lord Paisley, and Claud's sons included the 1st Earl of Abercorn and Sir Frederick Hamilton, both of whom took part in the Ulster and Leitrim plantations.[2][10][12]

Clandeboye and the Ards, 1606

The first large Hamilton settlement in Ireland came before the official plantation. In 1604 James Hamilton, a Scot who had taught in Dublin and acted as an agent of James VI, joined a deal over the lands of Conn O'Neill of Upper Clandeboye, who had been imprisoned. The land was split three ways between O'Neill, Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery. From 1606 Hamilton and Montgomery brought farmers, craftsmen and ministers from the Scottish Lowlands to north Down, a settlement often seen as the start of the Ulster Scots community. Hamilton built up Bangor and was made Viscount Claneboye in 1622.[7][9][15]

Planters in Tyrone and Leitrim

Woulfe noted that Hamiltons arrived from Scotland in large numbers with the Plantation of Ulster. The 1st Earl of Abercorn appears on the 1611 list of undertakers, granted proportions at Donalong and Strabane in Co. Tyrone, and his brothers were also undertakers, with Claud given land in Cavan. Sir Frederick Hamilton built up a large Leitrim estate from O'Rourke land and founded Manorhamilton, where he was remembered locally as a harsh landlord; his castle was burned in 1652. Hamiltons also spread from Down into Armagh, where the Claneboye viscount's brother John founded Markethill, Hamiltonsbawn and Newtownhamilton.[1][10][12][13][7]

Peers and Gaelic Hamiltons

Several Irish peerages were held by Hamiltons. The Clanbrassil earldom was created twice, in 1647 and 1756, and both lines became extinct. The Abercorn Hamiltons became Dukes of Abercorn in the Peerage of Ireland in 1868, while the 1st Duke was serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and their seat is still Baronscourt in Co. Tyrone. Not every Irish Hamilton descends from these settlers. Woulfe recorded two Gaelic surnames, Ó Hamailltín in west Clare and Ó hUrmoltaigh in south-west Cork, whose bearers also wrote their name as Hamilton.[8][11][16][3][4]

Places linked to the name

  • Killyleagh Castle, Co. Down — Seat of James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye, from about 1625.[7]
  • Bangor, Co. Down — Town built up by James Hamilton, with about eighty houses by 1611; he was buried in its church.[7]
  • Strabane, Co. Tyrone — Granted to the 1st Earl of Abercorn in the Plantation of Ulster; he built a castle there.[10]
  • Baronscourt, Co. Tyrone — Seat of the Dukes of Abercorn near Newtownstewart.[11]
  • Manorhamilton (Cluainín Uí Ruairc), Co. Leitrim — Town founded by Sir Frederick Hamilton, who built its castle in 1634.[13][12]
  • Newtownhamilton, Co. Armagh — Founded by John Hamilton, brother of the 1st Viscount Claneboye.[7]

Everyday lives

The Hamiltons in the census

Who the Hamiltons were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

Hamiltons All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Hamilton bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic −57.5 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 16.1%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland +24.9 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 38.1%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian +29.4 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 39.5%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other +3.3 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 6.4%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −11.5 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 3.8%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −10.5 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 3.0%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −7.7 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 5.8%
All of Ireland 13.5%

143 Hamiltons spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +5.9 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 86.3%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ +4.3 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 90.1%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,797 households lower than Ireland
Hamiltons 4.75
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 lower than Ireland
Hamiltons 5.91
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living +1.3 points vs Ireland
Hamiltons 81.1%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,146
Farmer's son444
Farmer's daughter248
General labourer238
Seamstress216
Agricultural labourer214
Farm servant189
House keeper164
Farm labourer146
Labourer142

Born outside Ireland

6.1% of Hamiltons in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England294
Scotland155
United States15
India12
Australia & NZ9
Canada5

Median age: 24 in 1901, 26 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Hamiltons

Men and boys

  1. John946
  2. James934
  3. William799
  4. Robert540
  5. Thomas470
  6. Samuel254
  7. Joseph225
  8. Alexander225
  9. George203
  10. David203

Women and girls

  1. Mary759
  2. Margaret407
  3. Sarah382
  4. Elizabeth357
  5. Jane328
  6. Annie291
  7. Maggie268
  8. Ellen237
  9. Lizzie224
  10. Agnes185

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, James, William, Thomas, Patrick; Mary, Margaret, Ellen, Elizabeth, Annie.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
Hamilton8,0698,1941,772Search

Related forms

  • Hameldon, Hamleton — Older spellings Woulfe gives alongside Hamilton.[1][5]
  • Baile Hamaltuin (Ballyhamilton) — Not a surname but the name Irish speakers gave to Manorhamilton, showing how Hamilton was rendered in Irish.[13]

Diaspora

The Hamiltons abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Hamilton201,746119th

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a Hamilton coat of arms?

Arms belong to particular families, so there is no single Hamilton crest. Burke records the arms of the Earls, Marquesses and Dukes of Abercorn as three ermine cinquefoils on red, quartered with a ship for Arran and an escutcheon of fleurs-de-lis for Châtellerault, with the mottoes 'Through' and 'Sola nobilitas virtus'. For the Hamilton Earls of Clanbrassil he gives different arms with the motto 'Qualis ab incepto'. Many other Hamilton branches bore their own versions.[17][11]

Websites selling a single “Hamilton family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named Hamilton

Questions

Questions about the Hamilton name

Is Hamilton an Irish surname?

Hamilton is Scottish in origin, but it has been established in Ireland for over four hundred years. Large numbers of Hamiltons came from Scotland in the early 17th century, first to north Down from 1606 and then in the Plantation of Ulster. Woulfe also records two small Gaelic families, in west Clare and south-west Cork, who used Hamilton as the English form of their own names.[1][7][3][4]

Is Hamilton Irish or Scottish?

Mostly Scottish. The name belongs to the Lowland house of Hamilton, whose branches settled in Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Cavan and Leitrim during the 17th-century plantations. A Hamilton family in Ulster is very likely to be of Scottish descent. In Clare or Cork, though, the name may instead stand for the Gaelic surnames Ó Hamailltín or Ó hUrmoltaigh.[2][10][7][3][4]

What is Hamilton in Irish?

Woulfe renders the Scottish name as de Hamaltún, or simply Hamaltún. Irish speakers in Leitrim called Manorhamilton Baile Hamaltuin. In west Clare Hamilton could stand for the Gaelic surname Ó Hamailltín, and in south-west Cork for Ó hUrmoltaigh, the name the writer Hugo Hamilton was born with.[1][5][13][3][4][6]

Where does the Hamilton name come from?

It is a place-name surname. Woulfe derived it from Hambledon or Hambleton, names of several places in England, or from Hamilton in Scotland. Wikipedia instead favours Humbleton or Homildon in Northumberland, or a place near Leicester, and notes that the Scottish town of Hamilton was originally called Cadzow and took the family's name later.[1][14]

Is there a Hamilton family crest or coat of arms?

There is no single crest for everyone called Hamilton. Arms belonged to particular branches. Burke records the Abercorn Hamiltons' arms, built on three ermine cinquefoils on red, with the mottoes 'Through' and 'Sola nobilitas virtus', and different arms with the motto 'Qualis ab incepto' for the Hamilton Earls of Clanbrassil. Only descendants of those lines have any claim to them.[17]

Who were the Hamiltons of Clandeboye?

They descended from James Hamilton, an Ayrshire minister's son who taught in Dublin and served James VI as an agent. In 1605 he was granted Upper Clandeboye and the Great Ardes in north Down, and from 1606 he settled Scottish tenants there. He was made Viscount Claneboye in 1622 and his son Earl of Clanbrassil in 1647, but the line ended in 1675.[7][8]

Where in Ireland is the Hamilton surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Hamiltons lived in Antrim (2,131), Down (1,758), Tyrone (1,093). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Tyrone (77 per 10,000), Down (58 per 10,000), Antrim (45 per 10,000).

How common was the Hamilton surname in Ireland?

8,194 people were recorded as Hamilton in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 78th most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 535.

Looking for a Hamilton ancestor?

Search every Hamilton household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, De Hamaltún, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, Clan Hamilton (2026)
  3. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Hamailltín, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  4. Patrick Woulfe, Ó hUrmoltaigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  5. Patrick Woulfe, Hamaltún, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  6. Wikipedia, Hugo Hamilton (writer) (2026)
  7. Wikipedia, James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Earl of Clanbrassil (2026)
  9. Wikipedia, Clandeboye (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn (2026)
  11. Wikipedia, Duke of Abercorn (2026)
  12. Wikipedia, Frederick Hamilton (soldier) (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Manorhamilton (2026)
  14. Wikipedia, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire (2026)
  15. Wikipedia, Plantation of Ulster (2026)
  16. Wikipedia, James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn (2026)
  17. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'Hamilton (Earls, Marquesses, and Duke of Abercorn)' and 'Hamilton (Earl of Clanbrassil)'.
  18. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.
  19. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.