surnames.ie

Irish surname · 36th most common in 1911

Martin

Martin comes from Martinus, a Latin name linked to the god Mars and made popular by St Martin of Tours. In Ireland it has several sources: the Anglo-Norman Martins or Martyns, one of the Tribes of Galway, and Gaelic names such as Mac Giolla Mhártain, Ó Máirtín and Mac Máirtín, all anglicised Martin.

Irish MáirtínIrish Ó MáirtínIrish Mac MáirtínIrish Mac Giolla MhártainIrish Ó MártainIrish Ó Maolmhártain
1901 census
13,850
#35 · 31 per 10,000
1911 census
13,505
#36 · 31 per 10,000
1926 census
7,110
#70 · 24 per 10,000
Most numerous
Antrim
Highest share: Monaghan

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Norman & Gaelic (merged) Mixed: the Anglo-Norman Martins of Galway and other Martin families of settler origin, merged with several Gaelic surnames built on the name of St Martin.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Máirtín
“Martin”[5]
Woulfe's entry for the surname used without a prefix, which he says belonged to many separate families, the most distinguished being the Martyns of Galway.
Ó Máirtín
“descendant of Martin”[7][8]
Gaois gives Ó Máirtín as the standard modern Irish form of both Martin and Martyn.
Mac Máirtín
“son of Martin”[9]
Woulfe says this was the name of a branch of the O'Neills of Tyrone; its English forms include MacMartin and Martin.
Mac Giolla Mhártain
“son of the servant of St Martin”[6][3]
An Ulster family whose name is better known as Gilmartin or Kilmartin, but which Woulfe thought was often hidden under the plain form Martin.
Ó Mártain
“descendant of Martin”[10][8]
A medieval form borne by a learned family; Gaois treats it as a historical form of the modern Ó Máirtín.
Ó Maolmhártain
“descendant of the devotee of St Martin”[11]
A rare name which Woulfe also lists among the sources of Martin.

The name is built on the personal name Martin (Latin Martinus), usually explained as “of Mars, the Roman god of war”. Wikipedia derives Martinus from the name of Mars. In Ireland the name usually entered surnames through devotion to St Martin of Tours, as in Mac Giolla Mhártain and Ó Maolmhártain, both meaning a follower or servant of the saint.[3][6][11]

Pronunciation

Martin: MAR-tin

Place

Where the Martins 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: 39.6 per 10,000 (667 people) Waterford: 6.3 per 10,000 (52 people) Dublin: 28.4 per 10,000 (1,364 people) Kilkenny: 15.7 per 10,000 (118 people) Carlow: 7.7 per 10,000 (28 people) Limerick: 12.8 per 10,000 (183 people) Louth: 51.4 per 10,000 (324 people) Tipperary: 13.6 per 10,000 (208 people) Roscommon: 29.1 per 10,000 (273 people) Meath: 57.2 per 10,000 (373 people) Wicklow: 20.2 per 10,000 (123 people) Cavan: 59.1 per 10,000 (540 people) Cork: 9 per 10,000 (355 people) Clare: 4.7 per 10,000 (49 people) Galway: 26.5 per 10,000 (483 people) Mayo: 5.2 per 10,000 (100 people) Sligo: 15.7 per 10,000 (124 people) Leitrim: 14.8 per 10,000 (93 people) Offaly: 18.6 per 10,000 (106 people) Laois: 10.6 per 10,000 (58 people) Kildare: 28.1 per 10,000 (188 people) Kerry: 11.8 per 10,000 (188 people) Monaghan: 73.5 per 10,000 (526 people) Wexford: 26.6 per 10,000 (272 people) Longford: 37.9 per 10,000 (166 people) Westmeath: 44.2 per 10,000 (266 people) Tyrone: 29.1 per 10,000 (415 people) Antrim: 47.8 per 10,000 (2,283 people) Armagh: 35 per 10,000 (419 people) Fermanagh: 61.8 per 10,000 (375 people) Londonderry: 43.1 per 10,000 (602 people) Down: 71.4 per 10,000 (2,184 people)
fewerup to 104 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Monaghan

74 per 10,000

526 Martins · 2.39× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Monaghan 74
  2. Down 71
  3. Fermanagh 62
  4. Cavan 59
  5. Meath 57
  6. Louth 51
  7. Antrim 48
  8. Westmeath 44

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
Antrim2,1682,283—4748—
Armagh445419—3635—
Carlow162818485
Cavan579540539595966
Clare624934654
Cork3323553638910
Donegal802667511464034
Down2,1042,184—7371—
Dublin1,2651,3641,469292829
Fermanagh468375—7262—
Galway495483378262722
Kerry18318812311128
Kildare159188190262833
Kilkenny125118117171617
Laois635855111111
Leitrim1129393161516
Limerick206183221141316
Londonderry609602—4243—
Longford151166164323841
Louth367324454565173
Mayo12310075654
Meath377373309545749
Monaghan7735265861047490
Offaly90106112151921
Roscommon282273236282928
Sligo127124113161616
Tipperary215208211131415
Tyrone402415—2729—
Waterford495239665
Westmeath291266299474453
Wexford282272258272727
Wicklow128123143212025

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Martins made up the largest share of the population. In Tawnawully, Co. Donegal, about one resident in 6 was a Martin.

DEDCountyMartinsShare
TawnawullyDonegal121 18.1%
Bruce HallCavan46 9.7%
SkeaghDown94 8.7%
RockhillRoscommon29 8.2%
KillavinogeTipperary37 6.3%
BallymacbrennanDown48 5.1%
HarperstownWexford19 5.1%
EdernyFermanagh30 4.8%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Martin (Martyn) of Galway

the town of Galway and later estates in Co. Galway · Galway

One of the fourteen Tribes of Galway, the merchant families who dominated the town from the mid-13th century; Wikipedia counts them among the twelve of Anglo-Norman origin, as opposed to the two Normanised Gaelic families, Darcy and Kirwan. They traded with Britain, France, Spain and Portugal, provided many mayors, and lost much land after the Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian conquest. Later branches were seated at Tullira, Ross and Ballynahinch.[1][12][13][2][5]

Mac Giolla Mhártain of Cinéal Fearadhaigh

Cinéal Fearadhaigh, around Clogher · Tyrone

Woulfe describes an Ulster family who were anciently chiefs of Cinéal Fearadhaigh; Wikipedia places their chiefship in the barony of Clogher in Co. Tyrone and calls them a branch of the O'Neills. By the 16th century the name was common in Monaghan, Sligo and Roscommon.[6][3]

Mac Máirtín of Tyrone

Tír Eoghain · Tyrone

Woulfe names Mac Máirtín as a branch of the O'Neills of Tyrone. Wikipedia attaches the O'Neill descent to Mac Giolla Mhártain instead, so the sources differ on which Tyrone family was of O'Neill stock.[9][3]

Ó Mártain, a learned family

Uí Maine · Galway, Roscommon

A family of poets and lawyers. Its best-known member, Giolla Ernain Ó Martain, was chief ollamh of Ireland and died in 1217 or 1218. Wikipedia places a family of the name among the Soghain people of Uí Maine. Woulfe also records a Bishop O'Martain of Clogher who died in 1431.[10][14]

The name over time

History

A saint's name

Martin goes back to the Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, and its spread across Europe owed most to St Martin of Tours, a soldier who left the Roman army and became one of the most familiar saints of the Catholic Church. Families descended from a man called Martin took surnames from it in many languages, which is why Wikipedia finds it the commonest surname in France. Some English Martins have a different origin, from one of the many places called Merton. In Ireland the name arrived both with settlers and through Gaelic families devoted to the saint.[3]

Gaelic Martins

Irish has several surnames built on Martin. Mac Giolla Mhártain, 'son of the servant of St Martin', belonged to an Ulster family who were once chiefs of Cinéal Fearadhaigh, around Clogher in Tyrone; in the 16th century Woulfe found it common in Monaghan, Sligo and Roscommon too. Its usual English forms are Gilmartin and Kilmartin, but Woulfe was sure it often became plain Martin. Mac Máirtín, a branch of the O'Neills, Ó Máirtín, Ó Mártain and the rare Ó Maolmhártain all fed into the same English name.[6][9][7][10][11][3]

Poets, lawyers and bishops

The medieval Uí Mhártain were a learned family. Giolla Ernain Ó Martain was chief ollamh of Ireland, a poet and master of law; the Annals of Ulster put his death in 1217 and the Annals of Loch Cé in 1218, the latter adding that he had spent his life with the monks. Woulfe cites the Four Masters under 1216 for the same man. Wikipedia places a family of the name among the Soghain, a people of the kingdom of Uí Maine. Woulfe also notes a Bishop O'Martain of Clogher who died in 1431.[14][10]

The Martyns of Galway

In Galway city the Martins or Martyns were one of the fourteen Tribes, merchant families who ran the town's political and commercial life from the 13th century to the 19th. Wylliam Martin, mayor in 1519 and 1525, was the first of many Martyn mayors and extended the town wall to the Corrib along the line of the present Spanish Arch. His son Thomas Óge Martyn built Galway's West Bridge. Richard Óge Martyn, a lawyer of Dunguaire Castle, was a leader of the Catholic Confederates in the 1640s.[1][12][13][15][16]

Ballynahinch, Tullira and Ross

Many Martyns were dispossessed after the Confederate Wars, but branches survived on estates around the county. The family acquired Ballynahinch in Connemara in the mid-17th century, and Richard Martin, 'Humanity Dick', MP for Galway, lived there; he carried 'Martin's Act' of 1822 against cruelty to cattle and helped found what became the RSPCA. His granddaughter Mary Letitia Martin was called the Princess of Connemara. Edward Martyn of Tullira co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre, and Violet Martin of Ross House wrote as 'Martin Ross'.[12][2][17][18][19][20]

Places linked to the name

  • Galway (Gaillimh), Co. Galway — City of the Tribes, where the Martyns were leading merchants and mayors.[1][12]
  • Spanish Arch, Co. Galway — Stands on the line of the wall extension built under Mayor Wylliam Martin.[13]
  • Ballynahinch Castle, Co. Galway — Connemara house acquired by the Martins in the mid-17th century, home of 'Humanity Dick'.[2]
  • Tullira, Co. Galway — Seat of the Martins of Tullira, recorded by Burke, and later home of Edward Martyn.[4][19]
  • Clogher, Co. Tyrone — Barony where Wikipedia places the chiefs of the Mac Giolla Mhártain family.[3]

Everyday lives

The Martins in the census

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

Martins All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Martin bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic −16.9 points vs Ireland
Martins 56.7%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland +3.7 points vs Ireland
Martins 16.9%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian +11.5 points vs Ireland
Martins 21.6%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other +1.7 points vs Ireland
Martins 4.8%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −5.3 points vs Ireland
Martins 10.0%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −4.7 points vs Ireland
Martins 8.8%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −2.3 points vs Ireland
Martins 11.2%
All of Ireland 13.5%

174 Martins spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +1.9 points vs Ireland
Martins 82.3%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ +1.3 points vs Ireland
Martins 87.1%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 2,930 households lower than Ireland
Martins 4.56
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 lower than Ireland
Martins 5.94
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −0.6 points vs Ireland
Martins 79.2%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer2,298
Farmer's son926
Farmer's daughter495
General labourer442
Agricultural labourer386
Labourer330
Seamstress322
Farm servant320
House keeper267
Farm labourer234

Born outside Ireland

4.5% of Martins in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England380
Scotland152
United States36
India11
Wales8
Canada4

Median age: 24 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Martins

Men and boys

  1. John2,177
  2. James1,843
  3. Patrick1,322
  4. Thomas1,225
  5. William1,021
  6. Michael848
  7. Joseph532
  8. Robert470
  9. Edward331
  10. Samuel297

Women and girls

  1. Mary2,240
  2. Bridget918
  3. Margaret746
  4. Annie661
  5. Elizabeth583
  6. Ellen564
  7. Catherine554
  8. Sarah510
  9. Anne444
  10. Jane423

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
Martin13,85013,5057,110Search

Related forms

  • Martyn — The spelling long used by the Galway family; Gaois treats it as the same name as Martin.[12][8]
  • Marten — An older English spelling that Woulfe lists under several of the Irish forms.[5][10]
  • MacMartin — From Mac Máirtín, the Tyrone family.[9]
  • Gilmartin, Kilmartin — The usual English forms of Mac Giolla Mhártain, which was sometimes shortened to Martin.[6]
  • O'Martin — An early form of Ó Máirtín and Ó Mártain, now rare.[7][10]

Diaspora

The Martins abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Martin702,62520th

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

Heraldry

Is there a Martin coat of arms?

Arms belonged to particular families, so there is no single Martin crest. Burke's General Armory records arms for the Martins of Galway, taken from a funeral entry of 1636: on blue, a silver cross on three steps, its right arm ending in a gold sun and its left in a crescent, with a star as crest and the motto 'Auxilium meum a Domino'. For the Martins of Tullira he gives the same arms with the motto 'Spes mea in cruce unica'. Burke also lists many unrelated English and Scottish Martin arms.[4]

Websites selling a single “Martin 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 Martin

  • Giolla Ernain Ó Martain (died 1218)
    Poet and chief ollamh of Ireland, recorded in the annals as a master of law.
  • Wylliam Martin (fl. 1504–1547)
    Mayor of Galway who extended the town wall at what is now the Spanish Arch.
  • Richard Óge Martyn (c. 1602–1648)
    Galway lawyer and a leader of the Catholic Confederates of Ireland.
  • Francis Martin (1652–1722)
    Galway-born Augustinian priest and theologian.
  • Richard Martin ('Humanity Dick') (1754–1834)
    Galway MP and animal-welfare pioneer behind the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822.
  • John Martin (1812–1875)
    Young Irelander who later became the first Home Rule MP, for Meath.
  • Mary Letitia Martin (1815–1850)
    Writer known as the 'Princess of Connemara', of the Martins of Ballynahinch Castle.
  • Edward Martyn (1859–1923)
    Playwright and patron, co-founder of the Irish Literary Theatre and first president of Sinn Féin.
  • Violet Florence Martin (1862–1915)
    Novelist who wrote with her cousin Edith Somerville as 'Somerville and Ross'.
  • Mother Mary Martin (1892–1975)
    Founder of the Medical Missionaries of Mary.
  • Micheál Martin (born 1960)
    Fianna Fáil politician, Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and again from 2025.

Questions

Questions about the Martin name

Is Martin an Irish surname?

It can be. Martin is an international name, but in Ireland it has deep roots of its own. The Martins or Martyns were one of the Anglo-Norman Tribes of Galway, and several Gaelic surnames, including Mac Giolla Mhártain, Ó Máirtín and Mac Máirtín, were anglicised as Martin. Burke also records 17th-century Martin families in Dublin, Drogheda and Kells.[1][5][6][7][9][3][4]

What is Martin in Irish?

The standard modern form is Ó Máirtín, which Gaois gives for both Martin and Martyn. Depending on the family, the original may instead have been Mac Máirtín, Mac Giolla Mhártain ('son of the servant of St Martin'), or the medieval Ó Mártain. Woulfe also records Máirtín used on its own for families such as the Martyns of Galway.[8][9][6][10][5]

What does the name Martin mean?

Martin comes from the Latin Martinus, which Wikipedia derives from Mars, the Roman god of war. In practice, most Irish Martin names honour St Martin of Tours: Mac Giolla Mhártain means 'son of the servant of St Martin', and Ó Maolmhártain similarly means 'descendant of the devotee of Martin'.[3][6][11]

Are Martin and Martyn the same name?

Yes. Martyn is an older spelling of Martin, kept especially by the Galway family, one of the Tribes of Galway, who appear in records under both spellings. Gaois treats both as English forms of Ó Máirtín, and Woulfe lists Martin, Marten and Martyn together.[12][8][5]

Are Martin and Gilmartin related?

Sometimes. Gilmartin and Kilmartin are the usual English forms of Mac Giolla Mhártain, an Ulster family once chiefs of Cinéal Fearadhaigh. Woulfe believed that many members of this family were recorded simply as Martin, so some Irish Martins, particularly in Ulster and north Connacht, are Gilmartins under another name.[6]

Is there a Martin family crest or coat of arms?

Not one for everyone named Martin. Burke records arms for the Martins of Galway, a silver cross on steps with a sun and a crescent on blue, with the motto 'Auxilium meum a Domino', and the same arms for the Martins of Tullira with the motto 'Spes mea in cruce unica'. He lists many unrelated English and Scottish Martin arms too.[4]

Where in Ireland is the Martin surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Martins lived in Antrim (2,283), Down (2,184), Dublin (1,364). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Monaghan (74 per 10,000), Down (71 per 10,000), Fermanagh (62 per 10,000).

How common was the Martin surname in Ireland?

13,505 people were recorded as Martin in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 36th most common surname. That is roughly 0.3% of the population, or 1 person in 325.

Looking for a Martin ancestor?

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

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Tribes of Galway (2026)
  2. Wikipedia, Ballynahinch Castle (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, Martin (name) (2026)
  4. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'Martin (Galway)', 'Martin (Tullyra, co. Galway)', and Martin funeral entries for Kells, Drogheda and Dublin.
  5. Patrick Woulfe, Máirtín, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Giolla Mhártain, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Máirtín, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  8. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte na hÉireann (Gaois surnames database) (2022)
  9. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Máirtín, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  10. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Mártain, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  11. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Maolmhártain, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  12. Wikipedia, Martyn (surname) (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Wylliam Martin (2026)
  14. Wikipedia, Giolla Ernain Ó Martain (2026)
  15. Wikipedia, Thomas Óge Martyn (2026)
  16. Wikipedia, Richard Martyn (mayor of Galway) (2026)
  17. Wikipedia, Richard Martin (Irish politician) (2026)
  18. Wikipedia, Mary Letitia Martin (2026)
  19. Wikipedia, Edward Martyn (2026)
  20. Wikipedia, Violet Florence Martin (2026)
  21. 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.