surnames.ie

Irish surname · 81st most common in 1911

O'Keeffe

Also spelt Keeffe, O'Keefe, Keefe

O'Keeffe is from the Irish Ó Caoimh, 'descendant of Caomh', a name meaning gentle or kind. The family were a branch of the Eóganacht kings of Munster, first seated around Glanworth and Fermoy in north Cork, then driven west after the Norman invasion to Duhallow, where their country became Pobal Uí Chaoimh.

Irish Ó Caoimh · Ó Caoimh (reformed spelling Ó Cuív)Irish Mac Uí ChaoimhIrish Pobal Uí Chaoimh
1901 census
7,990
#82 · 18 per 10,000
1911 census
7,805
#81 · 18 per 10,000
1926 census
7,788
#62 · 26 per 10,000
Most numerous
Cork
Highest share: Cork

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: the surname of a royal Eóganacht sept of Munster, of the same stock as the MacCarthys and O'Callaghans.[1][2]

Ó Caoimh
Modern spelling: Ó Caoimh (reformed spelling Ó Cuív)
“descendant of Caomh”[1][3]
Woulfe's headword. Wikipedia notes the reformed spelling Ó Cuív, used by the scholar Brian Ó Cuív and the politician Éamon Ó Cuív, and the feminine form Ní Chaoimh.
Mac Uí Chaoimh
“Mr O'Keeffe”[4][5]
Woulfe's example of naming a particular O'Keeffe without his first name, a construction he thought descended from very old clan-name forms.
Pobal Uí Chaoimh
“O'Keeffe's people”[5][1]
The name of the family's later territory in Duhallow, Co. Cork, anglicised Pobble O'Keeffe. Woulfe spells it Pobul Uí Chaoimh.

The name is built on the personal name Caomh, usually explained as “gentle, kind, noble or beautiful”. Woulfe glosses caomh as beautiful, noble, gentle and loveable; Wikipedia gives kind, gentle and noble. Caoimhín (Kevin) is a diminutive of the same word, but Woulfe treats Ó Caoimhín as a separate, very rare surname.[1][3][6]

Pronunciation

O'Keeffe: oh-KEEF

Place

Where the O'Keeffes 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: 0.1 per 10,000 (1 people) Waterford: 62.7 per 10,000 (516 people) Dublin: 13.6 per 10,000 (654 people) Kilkenny: 74.7 per 10,000 (561 people) Carlow: 17.9 per 10,000 (65 people) Limerick: 36.1 per 10,000 (517 people) Louth: 0.5 per 10,000 (3 people) Tipperary: 24 per 10,000 (367 people) Roscommon: 4.9 per 10,000 (46 people) Meath: 10.4 per 10,000 (68 people) Wicklow: 11.8 per 10,000 (72 people) Cavan: 0.4 per 10,000 (4 people) Cork: 84.4 per 10,000 (3,317 people) Clare: 23.9 per 10,000 (250 people) Galway: 5.3 per 10,000 (97 people) Mayo: 3 per 10,000 (58 people) Sligo: 0.3 per 10,000 (2 people) Leitrim: 1.3 per 10,000 (8 people) Offaly: 13.7 per 10,000 (78 people) Laois: 20.6 per 10,000 (113 people) Kildare: 13.8 per 10,000 (92 people) Kerry: 32 per 10,000 (512 people) Monaghan: 0.3 per 10,000 (2 people) Wexford: 17.3 per 10,000 (177 people) Longford: 2.5 per 10,000 (11 people) Westmeath: 19.6 per 10,000 (118 people) Tyrone: no records Antrim: 0.4 per 10,000 (17 people) Armagh: 2.1 per 10,000 (25 people) Fermanagh: 4.4 per 10,000 (27 people) Londonderry: 0.1 per 10,000 (2 people) Down: 0.8 per 10,000 (25 people)
fewerup to 92 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Cork

84 per 10,000

3,317 O'Keeffes · 4.75× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Cork 84
  2. Kilkenny 75
  3. Waterford 63
  4. Limerick 36
  5. Kerry 32
  6. Tipperary 24
  7. Clare 24
  8. Laois 21

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
Antrim2117—10—
Armagh1025—12—
Carlow586541161812
Cavan1549201
Clare289250218262423
Cork3,4693,3173,365878492
Donegal5114001
Down2025—11—
Dublin539654771121415
Fermanagh2427—44—
Galway1179787655
Kerry509512470313232
Kildare979289161415
Kilkenny585561565787580
Laois117113114212122
Leitrim585111
Limerick535517502363636
Londonderry12—00—
Longford171111433
Louth5322114
Mayo545848333
Meath6368569109
Monaghan1123201
Offaly637871111414
Roscommon704645755
Sligo720100
Tipperary388367388242428
Waterford551516560636372
Westmeath11611880192014
Wexford174177162171717
Wicklow55729291216

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where O'Keeffes made up the largest share of the population. In Moynsha, Co. Kerry, about one resident in 11 was a O'Keeffe.

DEDCountyO'KeeffesShare
MoynshaKerry56 9.3%
TemplenacarrigaCork38 8.5%
BallynoeCork62 8.0%
BallymurreenTipperary24 7.9%
KnocknagreeCork80 6.6%
GlenlaraCork49 6.5%
KillathyCork42 6.3%
DoonasleenCork52 6.0%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Ó Caoimh of Fermoy and Pobal Uí Chaoimh

first Feara Maighe (Fermoy), around Glanworth; later north-west Duhallow, called Pobal Uí Chaoimh · Cork

The one O'Keeffe sept, a branch of the Eóganacht that ruled Munster. They held the Fermoy district, with a seat at Glanworth, until the Anglo-Norman invasion drove them west into Duhallow. There they named their territory Pobal Uí Chaoimh, built their chief castle at Dromagh, and kept a distinct identity for centuries.[1][3][7][8][9]

O'Keeffe of Ballymaguirk

Ballymaguirk · Cork

A branch recorded by Burke as descending from Art Mac Donel O'Keefe, chief of the name under Elizabeth I. Burke says Daniel O'Keefe of Ballymaguirk was killed fighting for James II at Aughrim and that his three sons settled in France.[9]

The name over time

History

Kings' kin in Munster

The O'Keeffes belonged to the Eóganacht, the dynasties that ruled Munster from roughly the 5th to the 10th century. Wikipedia identifies them as the later ruling family of the Eóganacht Glendamnach, the branch named after Glendamnach, now Glanworth in Co. Cork, which supplied several kings of Munster, most famously Cathal mac Finguine, who died in 742. Woulfe adds that they were of the same stock as the MacCarthys and O'Callaghans. The Wikipedia article on Dromagh Castle assigns them instead to a different branch, the Eóganacht Rathlind.[2][3][1][8]

Caomh and the first O'Keeffe

The family is named after a man called Caomh, but the sources date him differently. Woulfe calls him Art Caomh, a son of Fionghuine, king of Munster, who flourished in the 10th century, and names Donnchadh Ó Caoimh, contemporary with Ceallachán of Cashel, as the first to use the surname. Burke dates the chief Caomh to about 950, while Wikipedia places him in the early 11th century. Family tradition also linked Caomh with Clíodhna, a goddess of south Munster, who won him over her rival sister Aibell, and the O'Keeffes claimed descent from her.[1][9][3][10]

From Fermoy to Duhallow

The O'Keeffes first held land along the Blackwater near Fermoy, with their seat at Glanworth. In Gaelic times the túath of Fermoy was theirs, but after the Anglo-Norman invasion it was divided between the Roches, who made it 'Roche's Country', and the Condons. Pushed out by the Roches, Condons and FitzGeralds, the O'Keeffes moved west into the barony of Duhallow, where their new territory took the name Pobal Uí Chaoimh, 'O'Keeffe's people'. It lay around the source of the Blackwater and stretched east to Dromagh. Woulfe says they survived there as a distinct clan until the end of the 16th century.[1][3][7][8]

Dromagh and the last chiefs

Art Ó Caoimh built Dromagh Castle in the late 16th century as the family's main seat, with other strongholds at Duarigle and Drominagh. Domhnall O'Keeffe of Dromagh, who died around 1655, was prominent in the Catholic rising of the 1640s, and Confederate cavalry gathered near the castle before the defeat at Knocknaclashy in 1651. The family lost their lands, recovered Dromagh after 1660, and backed James II in the Williamite war. In 1703 the estate of about 5,000 acres was confiscated and sold to the Hollow Sword Blade Company.[8][3]

Soldiers abroad and the name today

Like other dispossessed Catholic families, the O'Keeffes found careers in continental armies. Burke records the three sons of Daniel O'Keefe of Ballymaguirk, killed at Aughrim, as settling in France. Wikipedia notes that Constantine O'Keeffe was admitted to the French nobility in 1740 on the strength of his pedigree and long service, and that the surname Cuif in Champagne comes from O'Keeffe soldiers. At home the name stayed closely tied to Cork: in 1890 over two-thirds of O'Keeffe births were registered there, and Pobal Uí Chaoimh is still where it is most common.[9][3]

Places linked to the name

  • Glanworth (Gleannúir), Co. Cork — Glendamnach, which gave its name to the Eóganacht Glendamnach; Woulfe makes it the O'Keeffes' original seat.[2][1]
  • Fermoy (barony) (Mainistir Fhear Maí), Co. Cork — The O'Keeffes' túath in Gaelic times, later divided between the Roches and Condons.[7]
  • Duhallow (Dúiche Ealla), Co. Cork — Barony in whose north-west the O'Keeffes settled after the Norman invasion, as Pobal Uí Chaoimh.[1][3]
  • Dromagh Castle (Caisleán Dhromach), Co. Cork — Chief seat of the O'Keeffes, built by Art Ó Caoimh in the late 16th century and forfeited in 1703.[8]
  • Ballymaguirk, Co. Cork — Home of the O'Keefe branch whose arms Burke records.[9]

Everyday lives

The O'Keeffes in the census

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

O'Keeffes All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the O'Keeffe bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +25.3 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 98.9%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −12.2 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 1.0%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −10.1 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 0.0%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −3.0 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 0.1%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +4.8 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 20.1%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +3.6 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 17.1%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −1.8 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 11.7%
All of Ireland 13.5%

17 O'Keeffes spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +2.9 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 83.3%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ +2.3 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 88.1%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,579 households higher than Ireland
O'Keeffes 5.06
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
O'Keeffes 7.14
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −3.6 points vs Ireland
O'Keeffes 76.2%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,156
Farmer's son587
Agricultural labourer395
Farmer's daughter384
General labourer314
Farm servant302
Labourer202
House keeper201
Domestic servant194
Farm labourer173

Born outside Ireland

1.1% of O'Keeffes in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England51
United States18
Wales6
Scotland3
India2
Australia & NZ1

Median age: 23 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the O'Keeffes

Men and boys

  1. John1,815
  2. Patrick1,214
  3. Michael1,039
  4. James796
  5. Thomas711
  6. William663
  7. Daniel584
  8. Denis387
  9. Timothy362
  10. David249

Women and girls

  1. Mary2,110
  2. Margaret863
  3. Bridget833
  4. Ellen764
  5. Kate445
  6. Catherine429
  7. Julia356
  8. Hannah348
  9. Annie306
  10. Nora251

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
O'Keeffe4,3775,0286,249Search
Keeffe2,9792,173841Search
O'Keefe272349541Search
Keefe362255157Search

Related forms

  • Keeffe — The form without the O prefix, listed by Woulfe.[1]
  • O'Keefe, Keefe — Single-f spellings of the same name; Burke uses O'Keefe for the family.[9][3]
  • O Keeve — An early English spelling recorded by Woulfe.[1]
  • Ó Cuív, Ní Chaoimh — The reformed Irish spelling, and the feminine Irish form.[3]
  • Cuif — A French surname in Champagne that Wikipedia says descends from O'Keeffe soldiers.[3]

Diaspora

The O'Keeffes abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
O'Keeffe2,04314579th
Keeffe37055505th
O'Keefe17,4142079th
Keefe11,0283275th

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

Heraldry

Is there a O'Keeffe coat of arms?

Arms were granted to particular families, so no crest belongs to every O'Keeffe. Burke records arms for the O'Keefe sept: on green, a gold lion rampant with two open right hands above it, and a gold griffin holding a sword as the crest. For the O'Keefes of Ballymaguirk, whose arms were allowed by Ulster King of Arms in 1797, he gives a gold lion on a blue field and the motto 'Forti et fideli nihil difficile' ('Nothing is difficult to the brave and faithful').[9]

Websites selling a single “O'Keeffe 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 O'Keeffe

  • John O'Keeffe (1747–1833)
    Irish actor and dramatist whose farces and comic operas were great stage successes.
  • Alfred Henry O'Keeffe (1858–1941)
    New Zealand painter and art teacher who worked mainly in Dunedin.
  • Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)
    American modernist painter, often called the 'Mother of American modernism'.
  • Pádraig O'Keeffe (died 1963)
    Sliabh Luachra fiddler and teacher, the last of Munster's travelling fiddle masters.
  • Brian Ó Cuív (1916–1999)
    Irish scholar of Celtic history and philology.
  • Timothy O'Keeffe (1926–1994)
    Kinsale-born editor and publisher, editorial director at MacGibbon & Kee in London.
  • Batt O'Keeffe (born 1945)
    Fianna Fáil minister for education and science from 2008 to 2010.
  • Kerry O'Keeffe (born 1949)
    Australian Test cricketer and cricket commentator.
  • Éamon Ó Cuív (born 1950)
    Fianna Fáil TD for Galway West from 1992 to 2024 and former minister.
  • Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born 1977)
    Irish actor, born Jonathan O'Keeffe, known for Michael Collins and Match Point.
  • Eileen O'Keeffe (born 1981)
    Hammer thrower who holds the Irish record in the event.

Questions

Questions about the O'Keeffe name

Is O'Keeffe an Irish surname?

Yes. O'Keeffe is the English form of Ó Caoimh, the surname of a Gaelic sept descended from the Eóganacht kings of Munster. The family has always been rooted in Co. Cork, first around Glanworth and Fermoy and later in Duhallow, where their territory was called Pobal Uí Chaoimh.[1][3]

What is O'Keeffe in Irish?

The Irish form is Ó Caoimh, 'descendant of Caomh'; a woman uses Ní Chaoimh. A reformed spelling, Ó Cuív, is also used, for example by the scholar Brian Ó Cuív and the politician Éamon Ó Cuív. Woulfe notes that a particular O'Keeffe could be referred to as Mac Uí Chaoimh, roughly 'Mr O'Keeffe'.[1][3][4]

What does O'Keeffe mean?

It means 'descendant of Caomh'. Caomh was a personal name from a word that Woulfe glosses as beautiful, noble, gentle and loveable, and Wikipedia as kind, gentle and noble. The sources disagree on when Caomh lived: Woulfe places him in the 10th century and Wikipedia in the early 11th.[1][3]

Are O'Keeffe, O'Keefe and Keeffe the same name?

Yes. They are spellings of one Irish surname, Ó Caoimh. Woulfe lists O'Keeffe and Keeffe, Burke writes the family name as O'Keefe, and Keefe is simply the shorter single-f form.[1][9][3]

Is there an O'Keeffe family crest or coat of arms?

Not one for every O'Keeffe. Burke records arms for the O'Keefe sept, a gold lion on green with two open hands, and a griffin holding a sword as crest. He gives a different shield and the motto 'Forti et fideli nihil difficile' for the O'Keefes of Ballymaguirk. These belonged to particular family lines.[9]

Where does the O'Keeffe name come from?

From north Co. Cork. The O'Keeffes first ruled the Fermoy district, with their seat at Glanworth, until Norman settlers such as the Roches pushed them out. They moved west into the barony of Duhallow, around Dromagh, Kanturk and the upper Blackwater, an area still known as Pobal Uí Chaoimh, where the name remains common.[1][7][8][3]

Where in Ireland is the O'Keeffe surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of O'Keeffes lived in Cork (3,317), Dublin (654), Kilkenny (561). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Cork (84 per 10,000), Kilkenny (75 per 10,000), Waterford (63 per 10,000).

How common was the O'Keeffe surname in Ireland?

7,805 people were recorded as O'Keeffe or Keeffe or O'Keefe or Keefe in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 81st most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 562.

Looking for a O'Keeffe ancestor?

Search every O'Keeffe 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 Caoimh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, Eóganacht Glendamnach (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, O'Keeffe (2026)
  4. Patrick Woulfe, Alternative Form of Surnames, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  5. Patrick Woulfe, Irish Clan Names, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Caoimhín, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Wikipedia, Fermoy (barony) (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Dromagh Castle (2026)
  9. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'O'Keefe (a Sept who originally possessed the southern half of ancient Feara Maighe)' and 'O'Keefe (Ballymaguirk, co. Cork)'.
  10. Wikipedia, Clíodhna (2026)
  11. 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.
  12. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.