surnames.ie

Irish surname · 91st most common in 1911

King

King is an English surname brought to Ireland by settlers, but many Irish Kings are Gaelic families whose names were 'translated'. In Galway, Kerry and Limerick it usually stands for Mac Conraoi, mistakenly linked to rí, 'king'; around Lough Ree and the midlands it often represents Ó Cionga.

Irish Mac ConraoiIrish Ó Cingeadh / Ó Cionga · Ó CiongaIrish Mac ConriainIrish Ó Conraoi
1901 census
7,676
#90 · 17 per 10,000
1911 census
7,434
#91 · 17 per 10,000
1926 census
5,469
#97 · 19 per 10,000
Most numerous
Galway
Highest share: Galway

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

English & Gaelic (merged) An English surname of settler families, merged in Ireland with Gaelic names such as Mac Conraoi and Ó Cionga that were translated or misheard as King.[1][2][3][4]

Mac Conraoi
“son of Cú Raoi”[2][5]
Woulfe says that in Munster and Connacht this name was by his time usually mistranslated King. Gaois lists King as an alternative English form beside Conroy.
Ó Cingeadh / Ó Cionga
Modern spelling: Ó Cionga
“descendant of Cingeadh”[6][3][5]
Woulfe glosses Cingeadh as 'valiant' and gives King as the English form; Gaois gives King as the main English form of Ó Cionga.
Mac Conriain
“son of Cú Riain, 'Rian's hound'”[7]
An extremely rare name that Woulfe says was sometimes rendered King on the same mistaken assumption as Mac Conraoi.
Ó Conraoi
“descendant of Cú Raoi”[5]
Gaois lists King as an alternative English form of this name too, alongside the main form Conroy.

The name is built on the personal name Cú Raoi, usually explained as “hound of the plain, or of battle”. Woulfe's gloss for the name behind Mac Conraoi. It has nothing to do with rí, 'king'; the English form King arose from a mistaken belief that it did.[2]

Pronunciation

King: KING

Place

Where the Kings 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: 3.9 per 10,000 (66 people) Waterford: 6.3 per 10,000 (52 people) Dublin: 15.4 per 10,000 (738 people) Kilkenny: 5.6 per 10,000 (42 people) Carlow: 25.6 per 10,000 (93 people) Limerick: 17.6 per 10,000 (252 people) Louth: 31.6 per 10,000 (199 people) Tipperary: 12.3 per 10,000 (188 people) Roscommon: 28.6 per 10,000 (269 people) Meath: 25.6 per 10,000 (167 people) Wicklow: 14.3 per 10,000 (87 people) Cavan: 27.5 per 10,000 (251 people) Cork: 4.6 per 10,000 (179 people) Clare: 25.3 per 10,000 (264 people) Galway: 80.6 per 10,000 (1,469 people) Mayo: 27.2 per 10,000 (523 people) Sligo: 9.6 per 10,000 (76 people) Leitrim: 1.9 per 10,000 (12 people) Offaly: 15.1 per 10,000 (86 people) Laois: 9.7 per 10,000 (53 people) Kildare: 17.9 per 10,000 (120 people) Kerry: 17.8 per 10,000 (284 people) Monaghan: 22.9 per 10,000 (164 people) Wexford: 6.8 per 10,000 (70 people) Longford: 11 per 10,000 (48 people) Westmeath: 14.6 per 10,000 (88 people) Tyrone: 5.7 per 10,000 (82 people) Antrim: 12.4 per 10,000 (594 people) Armagh: 16.5 per 10,000 (198 people) Fermanagh: 4.4 per 10,000 (27 people) Londonderry: 18.6 per 10,000 (260 people) Down: 14.2 per 10,000 (433 people)
fewerup to 82 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Galway

81 per 10,000

1,469 Kings · 4.76× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Galway 81
  2. Louth 32
  3. Roscommon 29
  4. Cavan 28
  5. Mayo 27
  6. Meath 26
  7. Carlow 26
  8. Clare 25

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
Antrim553594—1212—
Armagh241198—1917—
Carlow789388212626
Cavan278251223292827
Clare287264263262528
Cork150179141454
Donegal756656444
Down395433—1414—
Dublin766738849171517
Fermanagh2227—34—
Galway1,5851,4691,204828171
Kerry345284280211819
Kildare103120119171821
Kilkenny444236665
Laois60533911108
Leitrim101215123
Limerick247252288171821
Londonderry239260—1719—
Longford494851111113
Louth206199189323230
Mayo528523509272730
Meath185167128262621
Monaghan176164127242320
Offaly938676151515
Roscommon247269238252929
Sligo847673101010
Tipperary212188210131215
Tyrone11182—76—
Waterford315251467
Westmeath1128857181510
Wexford987077978
Wicklow668782111414

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Kings made up the largest share of the population. In Doonloughan, Co. Galway, about one resident in 9 was a King.

DEDCountyKingsShare
DoonloughanGalway48 10.8%
RoundstoneGalway123 9.9%
ErrislannanGalway64 9.8%
DrumminMayo48 9.8%
ClegganGalway46 8.5%
SillernaGalway92 8.3%
BunowenGalway75 7.0%
BallintempleGalway42 6.6%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Mac Conraoi of Dealbhna Tír Dhá Locha

Dealbhna Tír Dhá Locha, between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, roughly the barony of Moycullen · Galway

Chiefs of the Delbhna of the Two Lakes, a people claiming kinship with the Dál gCais. Wikipedia says they held Gnó Mór while their cadets, the O'Heneys, held Gnó Beag, and that in the 11th century the O'Flahertys took over the area. Woulfe found the family still numerous there, with the name now generally rendered King.[2][8][9]

Mac Conraoi in Kerry and Limerick

Kerry and Limerick · Kerry, Limerick

Woulfe notes that the name was also common in Kerry and Limerick, and that there too it was usually turned into King. He does not say whether these families shared descent with the Galway line.[2]

Ó Cingeadh (Ó Cionga) of the midlands

east of Lough Ree; also Offaly, Galway and Clare · Westmeath, Offaly, Galway, Clare

Woulfe places this surname chiefly in Westmeath, Offaly, Galway and Clare. Wikipedia describes the Ó Cingeadh or Ó Cionga as a bardic family from east of Lough Ree whose name became King through the sound of the word rather than its meaning.[6][3][4]

King of Boyle Abbey (Earls of Kingston)

Boyle and Rockingham, Co. Roscommon; later Mitchelstown, Co. Cork · Roscommon, Sligo, Cork

An Anglo-Irish settler family. Sir John King leased Boyle Abbey in 1603 and was Muster-Master-General of Ireland. Later Kings of the same Boyle Abbey line included the Barons Kingston, created in 1660, and the Earls of Kingston, created in 1768, who later held Mitchelstown Castle.[10][11][12][13][14]

The name over time

History

An English name and a Gaelic 'translation'

King is an ordinary English surname, which Wiktionary explains as a nickname for someone who behaved like a king or worked in a royal household, and Wikipedia connects with Old English cyning. Families of that name came to Ireland as officials and settlers. But a large share of Irish Kings have Gaelic roots. Woulfe uses Mac Conraoi becoming King as one of his examples of a surname that was 'translated' into English, and he and Gaois also connect King with Ó Cionga and other names that only sounded or seemed royal.[1][15][16][2][5]

The Mac Conraoi of the Two Lakes

Mac Conraoi means 'son of Cú Raoi', a name Woulfe glosses as 'hound of the plain, or of battle'. The family, said to be of Dalcassian origin, were lords of Dealbhna Tír Dhá Locha, the land between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay that roughly matches the later barony of Moycullen. The annals style their chief king or lord of Tír Dhá Locha. In the 11th century the O'Flahertys moved into the district and became lords of Moycullen, but the Mac Conraoi remained numerous there.[2][8][9]

How Conroy became King

Woulfe explains that in both Munster and Connacht the name came to be written King because people wrongly believed it contained rí, 'a king', and that its true Irish form was Mac an Ríogh, 'son of the king'. One early English spelling, Mac-an-Ree, shows that reading in action. The same mistake turned the rare Mac Conriain into King on occasion. As a result, King and Conroy families in Galway, Kerry or Limerick may share one Gaelic ancestor, and Gaois still lists King as an alternative English form of both Mac Conraoi and Ó Conraoi.[2][7][5]

Ó Cionga of Lough Ree

A separate Gaelic King family descends from Ó Cingeadh, also written Ó Cionga, 'descendant of Cingeadh', a name Woulfe glosses as 'valiant'. He records it mainly in Westmeath, Offaly, Galway and Clare, and gives O'King and King among its English forms. Wikipedia describes the family as hereditary poets from east of Lough Ree, and notes that their name became King because of how it sounded in English rather than through any mistaken translation. Gaois gives King as the main English form of Ó Cionga.[6][3][4][5]

The Kings of Boyle and the Earls of Kingston

The most prominent English King family in Ireland began with Sir John King, who leased Boyle Abbey in Co. Roscommon in 1603. Burke records his funeral entry of 1637, naming him Muster-Master-General of Ireland and a privy councillor. In the next generations John King was created Baron Kingston in 1660, and his younger brother Robert, made a baronet 'of Boyle Abbey' in 1682, was ancestor of the Earls of Kingston, created in 1768, who took titles from Rockingham and Boyle and later lived at Mitchelstown Castle in Co. Cork. Mary Wollstonecraft was governess to the second Earl's daughters there.[10][11][12][13][14]

Other settler Kings

Burke records several other King families in Ireland. One, at Clontarf near Dublin, descended from Mathew King, Muster-Master of the Army in Ireland, whom Burke describes as a native of the north of England. Others held baronetcies at Charlestown in Co. Roscommon and Corrard in Co. Fermanagh, and arms were granted in 1690 to William King, then Bishop of Derry, who became Archbishop of Dublin from 1703 to 1729. These families are entirely distinct in origin from the Gaelic Kings of Galway and the midlands.[11][17]

Places linked to the name

  • Moycullen (barony) (Maigh Cuilinn), Co. Galway — Roughly the old territory of Dealbhna Tír Dhá Locha, ruled by the Mac Conraoi before the O'Flahertys.[9][2]
  • Lough Ree, Co. Westmeath — The Ó Cionga bardic family came from the country east of the lake.[4]
  • Boyle Abbey, Co. Roscommon — Cistercian abbey leased to Sir John King in 1603, later the title of the King baronetcy.[10][13]
  • Mitchelstown Castle, Co. Cork — Former home of the King family, Barons and Earls of Kingston.[14]

Everyday lives

The Kings in the census

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

Kings All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the King bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +5.0 points vs Ireland
Kings 78.6%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −1.7 points vs Ireland
Kings 11.5%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −1.8 points vs Ireland
Kings 8.3%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −1.6 points vs Ireland
Kings 1.5%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +10.1 points vs Ireland
Kings 25.4%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +9.2 points vs Ireland
Kings 22.7%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties +5.6 points vs Ireland
Kings 19.1%
All of Ireland 13.5%

126 Kings spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −3.0 points vs Ireland
Kings 77.4%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −2.4 points vs Ireland
Kings 83.4%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,561 households lower than Ireland
Kings 4.66
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
Kings 6.77
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living about the same as Ireland
Kings 80.1%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,433
Farmer's son716
Farmer's daughter382
Labourer205
General labourer202
Agricultural labourer197
Farm labourer146
Farm servant145
House keeper128
Domestic servant113

Born outside Ireland

4.1% of Kings in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England218
Scotland39
United States25
India13
Wales4
Canada3

Median age: 23 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Kings

Men and boys

  1. John1,374
  2. Patrick1,073
  3. James859
  4. Michael812
  5. Thomas750
  6. William439
  7. Martin300
  8. Joseph287
  9. Peter207
  10. Edward204

Women and girls

  1. Mary1,620
  2. Bridget770
  3. Margaret540
  4. Ellen402
  5. Annie385
  6. Catherine363
  7. Anne301
  8. Kate284
  9. Elizabeth251
  10. Sarah229

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
King7,6767,4345,469Search

Related forms

  • Conroy, Conry, Conree — English forms of Mac Conraoi that kept the sound of the Irish name; Woulfe lists them beside King.[2][5]
  • Mac-an-Ree — An early spelling reflecting the mistaken reading 'son of the king'.[2]
  • O'King — An early English form of Ó Cingeadh.[6]
  • Cunreen — The usual English form of the rare Mac Conriain, occasionally rendered King.[7]
  • Küng, König — German names sometimes anglicised King, especially among American Mennonite and Amish families.[15]

Diaspora

The Kings abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
King465,42234th

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

Heraldry

Is there a King coat of arms?

Arms belong to particular families, and there is no King crest for everyone of the name. Burke's General Armory records arms for the Earls of Kingston, of the Boyle family: on red, two silver lions rampant facing each other and holding up a silver right hand cut off at the wrist, with the motto 'Spes tutissima coelis'. Burke lists separate arms for many other King families in England and Ireland. None of these applies to the Gaelic families who became King by translation.[11]

Websites selling a single “King 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 King

  • John King, 1st Baron Kingston (died 1676)
    Anglo-Irish soldier in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, created Baron Kingston in 1660.
  • William King (1650–1729)
    Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin from 1703, an influential writer and supporter of the Glorious Revolution.
  • Margaret King, Lady Mount Cashell (1773–1835)
    Anglo-Irish writer with republican sympathies, a favoured pupil of Mary Wollstonecraft.
  • Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough (1795–1837)
    Irish antiquarian who published facsimiles of early Mexican manuscripts and Maya material.
  • John King (1838–1872)
    Tyrone-born explorer, sole survivor of the four Burke and Wills men who reached the Gulf.
  • William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874–1950)
    Liberal Prime Minister of Canada and the longest-serving in the country's history.
  • B. B. King (1925–2015)
    American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, hugely influential on electric guitar playing.
  • Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)
    American Baptist minister and leader of the civil rights movement until his assassination.
  • Stephen King (born 1947)
    American author of horror and suspense fiction, beginning with Carrie in 1974.
  • Philip King (born 1952)
    Cork musician, producer and broadcaster, a founder of Scullion and fluent Irish speaker.

Questions

Questions about the King name

Is King an Irish surname?

It can be either English or Irish. King is an English surname brought by settler families such as the Kings of Boyle. But in Galway, Kerry and Limerick most Kings descend from the Gaelic Mac Conraoi, and in the midlands many come from Ó Cionga, names that were turned into King when written in English.[1][2][3][13]

What is King in Irish?

There is no single answer. For Gaelic families it is usually Mac Conraoi, 'son of Cú Raoi', or Ó Cionga, 'descendant of Cingeadh'. Gaois lists King as the main English form of Ó Cionga and an alternative form of Mac Conraoi and Ó Conraoi. A literal 'son of the king', Mac an Ríogh, was a mistaken explanation rather than a real source.[5][2][3]

Why did Conroy become King?

Woulfe explains that people wrongly took the second part of Mac Conraoi to be rí, 'a king', and assumed the name was Mac an Ríogh, 'son of the king'. So it was 'translated' as King, especially in Munster and Connacht. In fact the name comes from Cú Raoi, 'hound of the plain, or of battle'.[2][16]

Are King and Conroy the same family?

In many cases in the west, yes. The Mac Conraoi of Dealbhna Tír Dhá Locha in Galway gave rise to families called both Conroy and King. Conroy can also come from other names, such as the bardic Ó Maolchonaire family of east Galway and Roscommon, so a shared surname is a clue rather than proof.[2][4][8]

Is there a King family crest or coat of arms?

Not one for every King. Burke's General Armory records arms for many separate King families, among them the Earls of Kingston, whose motto was 'Spes tutissima coelis' ('The safest hope is in heaven'), and the Kings of Clontarf. These belonged to settler families and have no connection with the Gaelic Kings descended from Mac Conraoi or Ó Cionga.[11]

Where does the King name come from in Ireland?

Gaelic Kings come mainly from west Galway, the old Mac Conraoi territory around Moycullen, from Kerry and Limerick, and from the midlands around Lough Ree, home of Ó Cionga. English settler Kings were established at Boyle in Roscommon, at Clontarf near Dublin and elsewhere from the early 17th century.[2][9][4][10][11]

Where in Ireland is the King surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Kings lived in Galway (1,469), Dublin (738), Antrim (594). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Galway (81 per 10,000), Louth (32 per 10,000), Roscommon (29 per 10,000).

How common was the King surname in Ireland?

7,434 people were recorded as King in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 91st most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 592.

Looking for a King ancestor?

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

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Wiktionary, King (2026)
  2. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Conraoi, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  3. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Cionga, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  4. Wikipedia, Conroy (2026)
  5. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte: Irish surname data (version 2) (2022). Clusters 'Cionga' (Ó Cionga: King) and 'Cú Raoi' (Mac Conraoi and Ó Conraoi: Conroy, King).
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Cingeadh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Conriain, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  8. Wikipedia, Delbhna (2026)
  9. Wikipedia, Moycullen (barony) (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, Boyle Abbey (2026)
  11. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries under 'King', including Sir John King of Boyle Abbey (funeral entry 1637), the Earl of Kingston, King of Clontarf and the 1690 grant to William King, Bishop of Derry.
  12. Wikipedia, Baron Kingston (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Earl of Kingston (2026)
  14. Wikipedia, Mitchelstown Castle (2026)
  15. Wikipedia, King (surname) (2026)
  16. Patrick Woulfe, Anglicisation of Irish Surnames, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  17. Wikipedia, William King (bishop) (2026)
  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.

How we compile these figures: methodology.