surnames.ie

Irish surname · 58th most common in 1911

Hayes

Also spelt Hays

In Ireland, Hayes is usually the English form of Ó hAodha, 'descendant of Aodh', a personal name meaning 'fire'. More than a dozen unrelated families bore it, and the southern ones mostly became Hayes. A smaller number of Irish Hayeses descend from the Anglo-Norman de la Haye family of Wexford.

Irish Ó hAodhaIrish de Hae
1901 census
10,087
#58 · 23 per 10,000
1911 census
9,859
#58 · 23 per 10,000
1926 census
8,700
#52 · 29 per 10,000
Most numerous
Cork
Highest share: Limerick

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic & Norman (merged) Mostly Gaelic Irish, from many unrelated Ó hAodha families; partly Anglo-Norman, from the de la Haye family of Wexford; and in Britain an English place-name surname.[1][2][3]

Ó hAodha
“descendant of Aodh”[1][4][5]
Woulfe's headword. He says it was usually anglicised Hughes in the north and Hayes in the south, and that the O was almost everywhere dropped. Gaois groups Hayes and Hughes together under this name.
de Hae
“of the hay (hedged enclosure)”[2]
Woulfe's Irish form for the Anglo-Norman de la Haye family of Wexford, which also gives Hay, Hays and Hayes.

The name is built on the personal name Aodh, usually explained as “fire”. Woulfe glosses Aodh as 'fire', and Wiktionary traces it to Old Irish Áed, from the word áed, 'fire'. It was one of the most popular Gaelic personal names and is usually rendered Hugh in English, which is why the same surname also gave Hughes.[1][6][3]

Pronunciation

Hayes: HAYZ (rhymes with 'days')

Place

Where the Hayess 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: 2.3 per 10,000 (39 people) Waterford: 51.5 per 10,000 (424 people) Dublin: 13.6 per 10,000 (651 people) Kilkenny: 15.7 per 10,000 (118 people) Carlow: 20.1 per 10,000 (73 people) Limerick: 117.8 per 10,000 (1,689 people) Louth: 2.4 per 10,000 (15 people) Tipperary: 73.3 per 10,000 (1,119 people) Roscommon: 0.1 per 10,000 (1 people) Meath: 2.1 per 10,000 (14 people) Wicklow: 16.6 per 10,000 (101 people) Cavan: 0.3 per 10,000 (3 people) Cork: 63.1 per 10,000 (2,481 people) Clare: 64 per 10,000 (669 people) Galway: 7.2 per 10,000 (132 people) Mayo: 2 per 10,000 (38 people) Sligo: 0.3 per 10,000 (2 people) Leitrim: 0.3 per 10,000 (2 people) Offaly: 26.2 per 10,000 (149 people) Laois: 7.3 per 10,000 (40 people) Kildare: 7.2 per 10,000 (48 people) Kerry: 23.1 per 10,000 (370 people) Monaghan: 1.5 per 10,000 (11 people) Wexford: 54.5 per 10,000 (558 people) Longford: 1.4 per 10,000 (6 people) Westmeath: 3.2 per 10,000 (19 people) Tyrone: 8.3 per 10,000 (118 people) Antrim: 10 per 10,000 (478 people) Armagh: 6.8 per 10,000 (81 people) Fermanagh: 1.5 per 10,000 (9 people) Londonderry: 6.6 per 10,000 (92 people) Down: 10.1 per 10,000 (309 people)
fewerup to 120 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Limerick

118 per 10,000

1,689 Hayess · 5.25× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Limerick 118
  2. Tipperary 73
  3. Clare 64
  4. Cork 63
  5. Wexford 55
  6. Waterford 52
  7. Offaly 26
  8. Kerry 23

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
Antrim474478—1010—
Armagh9581—87—
Carlow617367162020
Cavan8310101
Clare714669617646465
Cork2,6132,4812,365656365
Donegal323935222
Down233309—810—
Dublin585651713131414
Fermanagh69—12—
Galway137132134778
Kerry408370405252327
Kildare61486010710
Kilkenny126118160171623
Laois4540568711
Leitrim621100
Limerick1,7511,6891,671119118120
Londonderry8292—67—
Longford766212
Louth111526224
Mayo223837122
Meath16148221
Monaghan17119221
Offaly162149156272630
Roscommon1317101
Sligo1022100
Tipperary1,1661,1191,090737378
Tyrone118118—88—
Waterford438424464505260
Westmeath171939337
Wexford581558462565549
Wicklow72101100121718

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Hayess made up the largest share of the population. In Derry, Co. Cork, about one resident in 6 was a Hayes.

DEDCountyHayessShare
DerryCork130 15.6%
LoughatorickGalway34 10.1%
RosscarberyCork106 9.3%
MoyaliffTipperary81 9.1%
KilfaughnabegCork89 8.5%
Two-Mile-BorrisTipperary40 8.4%
CastleventryCork25 6.8%
Doon SouthLimerick98 5.9%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Ó hAodha of Uí Fiachrach of Ardstraw

Uí Fiachrach Arda Sratha, around Ardstraw · Tyrone

Woulfe's first family, formerly lords of the Uí Fiachrach of Ardstraw in Tyrone. In Ulster the name usually became Hughes rather than Hayes.[1][5]

Ó hAodha of Eas Ruadh

Eas Ruadh, near Ballyshannon · Donegal

A Tír Chonaill family, chiefs of Eas Ruadh beside Ballyshannon, according to Woulfe.[1][5]

Ó hAodha of Fearnmhaigh

Fearnmhaigh, now the barony of Farney · Monaghan

An Oriel (Airgíalla) family, chiefs of the district that became the barony of Farney in Co. Monaghan.[1][5]

Ó hAodha of Odhbha

Odhbha, near Navan · Meath

Woulfe records this Meath family as lords of Odhbha in the Navan district.[1]

Ó hAodha of East Tír Teathbha

the eastern part of Tír Teathbha (Teffia) · Meath

A second family listed by Woulfe as being of Meath, chiefs of East Tír Teathbha. He gives no further detail.[1]

Ó hAodha of Uí Deaghaidh

Uí Deaghaidh, roughly the barony of Gorey · Wexford

A Wexford family, chiefs of Uí Deaghaidh, a territory Woulfe equates almost exactly with the barony of Gorey.[1]

Ó hAodha of Muscraighe Luachra

Muscraighe Luachra, on both sides of the upper Blackwater · Cork

Lords of Muscraighe Luachra in north-west Cork. Burke's General Armory records arms for this sept under the name O'Hea, describing its territory as lying on both banks of the Blackwater near its source.[1][7][8]

Ó hAodha of Tuath Ó nDonnghaile (O'Hea)

Tuath Ó nDonnghaile, in Corca Laoighdhe, south-west Cork · Cork

Sub-chiefs in the south-west of Co. Cork, part of the Corca Laoighdhe. Woulfe found them still numerous there, and says this is the only family that kept the O, as O'Hea.[1][9]

Ó hAodha of Thomond

Thomond · Clare

Woulfe lists a Dalcassian family of the name in Thomond, without giving its territory.[1]

Ó hAodha of Uí Maine

Uí Maine · Galway

A family belonging to the Uí Maine of east Galway, mentioned briefly by Woulfe. Wikipedia separately lists an Ó hAodha family of Muintir Murchada in Galway.[1][5]

Ó hAodha of Uí Fiachrach (Mayo and Sligo)

Ard Ó nAodha in Templemurray parish and Ballintober parish, Co. Mayo; Tonrego in Dromard parish, Co. Sligo · Mayo, Sligo

Woulfe lists three families of the Uí Fiachrach: one formerly seated at Ard Ó nAodha in the parish of Templemurray, a second of the same stock in Ballintober parish, and a third at Tonrego in the parish of Dromard, Co. Sligo.[1]

de Hae (de la Haye) of Wexford

Co. Wexford · Wexford

An Anglo-Norman family that Woulfe says settled in Wexford around the time of the invasion. Their name, Norman 'de la Haye', English 'atte Haye', referred to someone living by a hedged field. Wikipedia notes a Hayes on record in Wexford as early as 1182.[2][3]

The name over time

History

Many families called Ó hAodha

Aodh was among the most popular names in early Ireland, so it is no surprise that many unrelated families took the surname Ó hAodha. Woulfe singles out thirteen, scattered from Tyrone and Donegal to Wexford, Cork, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Sligo, and Wikipedia puts the number at ten or more, adding families in Armagh, south Down and Galway. Woulfe counted Ó hAodha among the most numerous surnames in Ireland. A Hayes family today may descend from any of these, and the surname alone cannot say which.[1][5]

Hughes in the north, Hayes in the south

The same Irish name came into English in different ways in different regions. Woulfe explains that Ó hAodha usually became Hughes in Ulster, where the name was linked with Hugh, the usual English equivalent of Aodh, and Hayes in the southern provinces. Early English spellings recorded by Woulfe include O Heaa, O Hay, O Hewe and O Hugh. So the Ó hAodha lords of Ardstraw, Eas Ruadh and Farney are more likely to be represented today by Hugheses, while the families of Wexford, Munster and Connacht became Hayes.[1][3][5]

The southern septs

In the south, Woulfe's Ó hAodha families include the chiefs of Uí Deaghaidh, a Wexford territory almost the same as the barony of Gorey, and two Cork families. One ruled Muscraighe Luachra in the north-west of the county. The other were sub-chiefs of Tuath Ó nDonnghaile in the south-west, among the Corca Laoighdhe. There were also Ó hAodha families among the Dál gCais of Thomond and the Uí Maine of Galway, while two branches of the Uí Fiachrach held land in Mayo and a third at Tonrego in Sligo.[1][9][8]

O'Hea of west Cork

Almost all Ó hAodha families dropped the prefix when they took an English surname. Woulfe identifies one exception, the family of Tuath Ó nDonnghaile in south-west Cork, who wrote their name O'Hea and were still numerous there in his time. Burke's General Armory also uses the form O'Hea, but for the sept of Muscraighe Luachra, so the two sources attach the spelling to different Cork families. The Cork-born political cartoonist John Fergus O'Hea is a well-known bearer of the name.[1][7][10]

De la Haye and English Hayes

A separate Hayes line came with the Anglo-Normans. Woulfe records a de la Haye family, Irish de Hae, who settled in Wexford around the time of the invasion, and Wikipedia notes a Hayes on a Wexford record as early as 1182. In England, Hayes is a place-name surname taken from villages such as Hayes in Kent and Middlesex, from Old English words for brushwood or an enclosure. In Scotland the Norman de la Haye gave the name Hay, the surname of Clan Hay. English and Scottish settlers of these names add a further strand to Irish Hayes families.[2][3][11][12]

Places linked to the name

  • Ardstraw (Ard Sratha), Co. Tyrone — Centre of the Uí Fiachrach of Ardstraw, whose lords were an Ó hAodha family.[1][5]
  • Ballyshannon (Béal Átha Seanaidh), Co. Donegal — The Ó hAodha chiefs of Eas Ruadh held the country around the town.[1][5]
  • Farney (Fearnaigh), Co. Monaghan — The barony that grew out of Fearnmhaigh, territory of an Oriel Ó hAodha family.[1][5]
  • Gorey (Guaire), Co. Wexford — The barony of Gorey roughly matches Uí Deaghaidh, ruled by an Ó hAodha family.[1]

Everyday lives

The Hayess in the census

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

Hayess All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Hayes bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +13.8 points vs Ireland
Hayess 87.4%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −6.2 points vs Ireland
Hayess 7.0%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −5.8 points vs Ireland
Hayess 4.3%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −1.8 points vs Ireland
Hayess 1.3%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +2.0 points vs Ireland
Hayess 17.3%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +0.9 points vs Ireland
Hayess 14.4%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −1.3 points vs Ireland
Hayess 12.2%
All of Ireland 13.5%

61 Hayess spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +3.3 points vs Ireland
Hayess 83.7%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ +2.1 points vs Ireland
Hayess 87.9%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 2,035 households about the same as Ireland
Hayess 4.8
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
Hayess 6.87
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −2.1 points vs Ireland
Hayess 77.7%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,526
Farmer's son715
Agricultural labourer467
Farmer's daughter445
General labourer359
Farm servant331
Labourer308
House keeper203
Domestic servant197
Farm labourer193

Born outside Ireland

1.5% of Hayess in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England98
United States25
Scotland16
India5
Wales4
Australia & NZ2

Median age: 24 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Hayess

Men and boys

  1. John2,251
  2. Patrick1,396
  3. Michael1,331
  4. James1,196
  5. Thomas1,041
  6. William841
  7. Denis435
  8. Daniel397
  9. Timothy317
  10. Edward234

Women and girls

  1. Mary2,423
  2. Margaret1,028
  3. Bridget882
  4. Ellen761
  5. Catherine545
  6. Kate487
  7. Annie477
  8. Johanna334
  9. Julia280
  10. Elizabeth257

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
Hayes10,0079,7958,677Search
Hays806423Search

Related forms

  • Hays — A spelling of the same name; Woulfe lists Hays among the English forms of both Ó hAodha and de Hae.[1][2][13]
  • O'Hea — The only form that kept the O, used by a Corca Laoighdhe family in south-west Cork.[1]
  • Hughes — The usual northern anglicisation of the same Ó hAodha.[1][5]
  • Hay — From both Ó hAodha and the Norman de la Haye; also the Scottish clan name.[1][2][3]
  • MacHugh, MacKay, MacGee — Not the same surname: these come from Mac Aodha, 'son of Aodh', from the same personal name. Gaois groups them with Hayes and Hughes.[14][4]

Diaspora

The Hayess abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Hayes194,246127th
Hays34,1911021st

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

Heraldry

Is there a Hayes coat of arms?

Arms belonged to particular families, so there is no single Hayes crest. Burke's General Armory records arms for the O'Hea sept of Muscraighe Luachra in Co. Cork: on silver, an arm lying across the shield in a red sleeve, its hand holding an upright sword with a serpent coiled round it. Burke also lists many English Hayes arms and, in Ireland, arms for the Hayes baronets of Drumboe Castle, Co. Donegal, with the motto 'Dieu me conduise'.[7][15]

Websites selling a single “Hayes 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 Hayes

  • Catherine Hayes (1818?–1861)
    Limerick-born soprano who became one of the most famous opera singers of the Victorian era.
  • Michael Angelo Hayes (1820–1877)
    Waterford-born watercolourist of horses and military scenes, secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
  • Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893)
    Nineteenth president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881.
  • John Fergus O'Hea (c. 1838–1922)
    Cork-born political cartoonist who sometimes signed his work 'Spex'.
  • Michael Hayes (1889–1976)
    Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1922 to 1932, later a Fine Gael senator.
  • Richard J. Hayes (1902–1976)
    Director of the National Library of Ireland and a wartime code-breaker.
  • Maurice Hayes (1927–2017)
    Killough-born public servant, author and independent member of Seanad Éireann.
  • Isaac Hayes (1942–2008)
    American soul singer, songwriter and composer, a creative force at Stax Records.
  • Conor Hayes (born 1958)
    Galway full-back who captained his county to All-Ireland hurling titles.
  • Brian Hayes (born 1969)
    Fine Gael politician, Minister of State and later a Member of the European Parliament.
  • John Hayes (born 1973)
    Ireland tighthead prop, the first man to win 100 caps for his country.

Questions

Questions about the Hayes name

Is Hayes an Irish surname?

Usually, yes. In Ireland Hayes is mainly the English form of Ó hAodha, a Gaelic name carried by more than a dozen unrelated families across the country. Some Irish Hayes families instead descend from the Anglo-Norman de la Haye family who settled in Wexford, and in England Hayes is a separate place-name surname.[1][2][3]

What is Hayes in Irish?

Usually Ó hAodha, 'descendant of Aodh'. For the Norman family of Wexford, Woulfe gives the Irish form de Hae. Ó hAodha is also the source of Hughes and O'Hea, so the Irish form does not separate those surnames.[1][2][4]

What does the name Hayes mean?

For the Gaelic families, it means 'descendant of Aodh', a personal name meaning 'fire', usually given in English as Hugh. For the Norman de la Haye family, Woulfe explains it as 'at the hay', meaning a hedged field near which the first bearer lived. The English place-name surname comes from Old English words for brushwood or an enclosure.[1][2][6][11]

Are Hayes and Hughes the same name?

Often they are. Woulfe explains that Ó hAodha was usually anglicised Hughes in the north and Hayes in the south, so two families with these different English surnames can share the same Irish name. They need not be related, though, as many separate families bore Ó hAodha, and Hughes is also an English and Welsh surname.[1][5]

Is there a Hayes family crest or coat of arms?

No single crest belongs to everyone named Hayes. Burke's General Armory records arms for the O'Hea sept of Muscraighe Luachra in Co. Cork, showing an arm holding a sword entwined by a serpent, and separate arms for the Hayes baronets of Drumboe Castle in Donegal and many English Hayes families. Each belonged to a particular family.[7]

Where does the Hayes name come from in Ireland?

There is no single homeland. Woulfe's Ó hAodha families were based in Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan, Meath, Wexford, Cork, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Sligo, and a Norman Hayes family settled in Wexford. Because the northern families mostly became Hughes, Hayes is chiefly a name of the southern half of the country.[1][2]

Where in Ireland is the Hayes surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Hayess lived in Cork (2,481), Limerick (1,689), Tipperary (1,119). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Limerick (118 per 10,000), Tipperary (73 per 10,000), Clare (64 per 10,000).

How common was the Hayes surname in Ireland?

9,859 people were recorded as Hayes or Hays in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 58th most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 444.

Looking for a Hayes ancestor?

Search every Hayes 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, Ó hAodha, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Patrick Woulfe, De Hae, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  3. Wikipedia, Hayes (surname) (2026)
  4. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte: Irish surnames database (version 2) (2022). Cluster 'Aodh': Ó hAodha, Mac Aodha, Mac Aoidh; English Hayes, Hughes, McHugh, McGee and others.
  5. Wikipedia, Ó hAodha (2026)
  6. Wiktionary, Aodh
  7. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'O'Hea' and 'Hayes', including 'Hayes (Drumboe Castle, co. Donegal, bart.)'.
  8. Wikipedia, Múscraige (2026)
  9. Wikipedia, Corcu Loígde (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, John Fergus O'Hea (2026)
  11. Wiktionary, Hayes
  12. Wikipedia, Clan Hay (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Hays (surname) (2026)
  14. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Aodha, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  15. Wikipedia, Hayes baronets (2026)
  16. 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.

How we compile these figures: methodology.