surnames.ie

Irish surname · 61st most common in 1911

White

White in Ireland is mostly Anglo-Norman: Woulfe derives it from 'le White', a nickname for someone of fair complexion, borne by a family that came with the invasion. Gaelic families also became White by translation, among them Mac Giolla Bháin of Sligo and some Ó Banáin and Ó Gealagáin families.

Irish de Faoite, de Faoit · de FaoiteIrish FaoiteachIrish Mac Giolla BháinIrish Ó BanáinIrish Ó GealagáinIrish Mac Faoitigh
1901 census
10,207
#56 · 23 per 10,000
1911 census
9,739
#61 · 22 per 10,000
1926 census
6,508
#77 · 22 per 10,000
Most numerous
Dublin
Highest share: Wexford

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Norman & Gaelic (merged) Chiefly Anglo-Norman, from 'le White'; also English, and in some families a translation of Gaelic names built on bán or geal.[1][2][3]

de Faoite, de Faoit
Modern spelling: de Faoite
“the White (from Norman 'le White')”[1][4][5][3]
Woulfe's main entry for White and Whyte. The 'de' here is not 'of': Woulfe explains that the Norman article 'le' was rendered 'de' in Irish, as in de Faoit for 'le Whyte'. Gaois gives de Faoite as the Irish form of White, Whyte and Whitty.
Faoiteach
“White”[6]
An alternative Irish form of the same Norman name, listed by Woulfe.
Mac Giolla Bháin
“son of the fair youth”[2]
A Sligo family of the Uí Fiachrach whose name Woulfe says was always made White in English, though phonetic forms such as Kilbane and MacIlwaine also exist.
Ó Banáin
“descendant of Banán (from bán, 'white')”[7]
Usually Bannon or Banane in English, but Woulfe notes it was sometimes translated as White.
Ó Gealagáin
“descendant of Gealagán (from geal, 'bright, white')”[8]
Usually Galligan in English; Woulfe lists White as a translated form.
Mac Faoitigh
“son of White”[9][3]
Woulfe gives it as the source of MacWhite and MacWhitty. Wikipedia names it with de Faoite as Irish names behind White.

The name is built on the personal name le White (a nickname, not a personal name), usually explained as “the white, the fair-complexioned”. Woulfe groups 'le White' with other Anglo-Norman descriptive surnames taken from appearance, such as 'le Gras' and 'the Black'. The Gaelic names translated as White come from the adjectives bán, 'white, fair', and geal, 'bright'.[1][4][7][8]

Pronunciation

White: WHITE (one syllable, rhymes with 'kite')

Place

Where the Whites 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: 10.3 per 10,000 (173 people) Waterford: 37.9 per 10,000 (312 people) Dublin: 30.5 per 10,000 (1,464 people) Kilkenny: 27.8 per 10,000 (209 people) Carlow: 9.6 per 10,000 (35 people) Limerick: 23.1 per 10,000 (331 people) Louth: 39.7 per 10,000 (250 people) Tipperary: 21.8 per 10,000 (332 people) Roscommon: 15.5 per 10,000 (146 people) Meath: 25 per 10,000 (163 people) Wicklow: 30.6 per 10,000 (186 people) Cavan: 12.2 per 10,000 (111 people) Cork: 25.4 per 10,000 (997 people) Clare: 21.5 per 10,000 (225 people) Galway: 12.7 per 10,000 (231 people) Mayo: 3.7 per 10,000 (72 people) Sligo: 15.4 per 10,000 (122 people) Leitrim: 9.7 per 10,000 (61 people) Offaly: 29.9 per 10,000 (170 people) Laois: 26.7 per 10,000 (146 people) Kildare: 18.2 per 10,000 (122 people) Kerry: 13.1 per 10,000 (209 people) Monaghan: 16.6 per 10,000 (119 people) Wexford: 48.9 per 10,000 (501 people) Longford: 3.2 per 10,000 (14 people) Westmeath: 11.1 per 10,000 (67 people) Tyrone: 16 per 10,000 (228 people) Antrim: 27.8 per 10,000 (1,326 people) Armagh: 26.2 per 10,000 (313 people) Fermanagh: 7.4 per 10,000 (45 people) Londonderry: 20.8 per 10,000 (291 people) Down: 25.1 per 10,000 (768 people)
fewerup to 51 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Wexford

49 per 10,000

501 Whites · 2.21× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Wexford 49
  2. Louth 40
  3. Waterford 38
  4. Wicklow 31
  5. Dublin 31
  6. Offaly 30
  7. Antrim 28
  8. Kilkenny 28

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
Antrim1,3321,326—2928—
Armagh337313—2726—
Carlow3535309109
Cavan152111152161219
Clare293225251262226
Cork1,097997928272526
Donegal185173158111010
Down764768—2625—
Dublin1,3781,4641,449313129
Fermanagh3545—57—
Galway239231176121310
Kerry205209183121312
Kildare112122140181824
Kilkenny171209167232824
Laois164146139292727
Leitrim4261426107
Limerick359331330242324
Londonderry303291—2121—
Longford311416734
Louth233250289364046
Mayo937276544
Meath164163125232520
Monaghan13511990181714
Offaly210170171353033
Roscommon155146119151614
Sligo14212294181513
Tipperary424332351272225
Tyrone289228—1916—
Waterford330312320383841
Westmeath75675212119
Wexford530501473514950
Wicklow193186187323133

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Whites made up the largest share of the population. In Garrown, Co. Cork, about one resident in 15 was a White.

DEDCountyWhitesShare
GarrownCork33 6.5%
ErrillLaois28 6.5%
DunamonRoscommon30 5.8%
KnocksCork20 5.4%
DrummaanClare37 4.6%
BallymacoolDonegal22 4.5%
Lady's IslandWexford28 4.5%
RathronanLimerick56 4.3%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

White of Leixlip

Leixlip, with branches at Loughbrickland and Dufferin · Kildare, Dublin, Down

Burke traces this family to Walter White, who came with Strongbow in 1170. Its best-known member, Sir Nicholas White, bought Leixlip Castle in 1567 and became Master of the Rolls in Ireland in 1572. Burke records branches at Loughbrickland, Co. Down, and in France, where a descendant served as a colonel in Dillon's regiment.[10][11]

Whites of Dublin and the Pale

Corston, Chapelizod and the city of Dublin · Dublin

Burke records several White families in and around Dublin in the 16th and 17th centuries, including the Whites of Corston and a Lawrence White who was sheriff of the city in 1534. Wikipedia describes Sir Nicholas White as coming from a noted family of the Pale.[10][11]

Whites of Waterford, Kilkenny and Tipperary

Waterford city, Knocktopher and Clonmel · Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary

Sir Nicholas White's father, James White of Waterford, was steward to the Earl of Ormond, and Nicholas built up an estate at White's Hall near Knocktopher. The Jesuit scholar Stephen White was born in Clonmel in 1575. Burke records a Waterford branch whose arms and pedigree were registered in 1720.[11][12][10]

Whites of Limerick and Clare

Limerick city, Kilmurry and Quin · Limerick, Clare

Burke records the descendants of Sir Dominick White of Limerick, of the time of Henry VIII, and of Robert White of Kilmurry, Co. Clare. Later members of these lines settled at Cadiz and Benicarló in Spain, where their arms were confirmed in the 1770s.[10]

Whites of Wexford

The Trimmer, Ballyellis and Scarnagh · Wexford

Burke records White families in Co. Wexford from the early 17th century, including Nicholas White of The Trimmer in 1618 and John White of Ballyellis, who died in 1685.[10]

Mac Giolla Bháin of Sligo

Lisnarawer, in the parish of Dromard · Sligo

A Gaelic family of the Uí Fiachrach who once held the townland of Lisnarawer in Dromard parish. Woulfe says O'Donovan still found them in the district, always calling themselves White in English.[2]

Ó Banáin

Ely O'Carroll; also Mayo and Fermanagh · Offaly, Mayo, Fermanagh

Woulfe describes several Ó Banáin families, the largest in Ely O'Carroll in present-day Offaly. The name usually became Bannon, but was sometimes translated as White.[7]

Ó Gealagáin

Originally Sligo; later the south of Ireland · Sligo

Originally a Sligo name that Woulfe says had long been scattered through the south. It is usually Galligan in English, occasionally White.[8]

The name over time

History

Le White: a Norman nickname

Most Irish Whites trace their name to the Anglo-Normans. Woulfe explains that 'le White' was a descriptive name for someone with a fair complexion, and that a family so called arrived around the time of the invasion. In Irish it became de Faoite, because Irish rendered the Norman article 'le' with 'de', just as 'le Wolf' became de Bhulbh. Woulfe found the surname common throughout Ireland and borne by several distinct families. Not every White is Norman, though, since English settlers of the name came later and several Gaelic names were translated as White.[1][4][3]

The Whites of Leixlip and the Pale

Burke traces the Whites of Leixlip to Walter White, a companion of Strongbow in 1170. The family's leading figure was Sir Nicholas White (c.1532–1592). Wikipedia describes him as the son of James White of Waterford, steward to the Earl of Ormond. He studied at Lincoln's Inn, bought Leixlip Castle in 1567 and became Master of the Rolls in Ireland in 1572. An Irish speaker and a confidant of Lord Burghley, he met Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1569. Burke records related White families at Corston, Chapelizod and in the city of Dublin.[10][11][13]

Whites of the Munster towns

Stephen White, born in Clonmel in 1575, left Ireland rather than take the Oath of Supremacy, joined the Jesuits at Salamanca and became a renowned scholar of the early Irish saints, answering Gerald of Wales in his Apologia pro Hibernia. Burke records Whites of Waterford city and of Limerick, where Sir Dominick White lived in Henry VIII's reign, and of Kilmurry and Quin in Co. Clare. He also records Whites who served in Dillon's regiment in France and branches settled at Cadiz and Benicarló in Spain.[12][10]

Gaelic families who became White

Several Gaelic families took White as an English form of their names. Woulfe explains that in the 18th and 19th centuries many families gave up phonetic spellings for English words believed to translate them, often inaccurately. The Mac Giolla Bháin of Dromard in Sligo were always White in English, Woulfe says. The names Ó Banáin of Offaly, Mayo and Fermanagh and Ó Gealagáin of Sligo, both built on words for 'white' or 'bright', were sometimes translated the same way. Woulfe adds that the epithet Bán, 'fair', could replace a family's real surname and then be translated as White.[14][2][7][8][15]

Later Whites: Bantry and Luttrellstown

Two prominent families of the name rose in the 18th century. At Bantry, a Councillor Richard White bought the house later called Bantry House in 1750. Richard White, grandson of a lawyer of the same name who had made a large fortune, led loyal forces when a French invasion force arrived in Bantry Bay to support Irish rebels, and was made Baron Bantry in 1797 and Earl of Bantry in 1816; the White family still owns Bantry House. In Dublin, Luke White made a fortune as a bookseller and lottery operator, bought Luttrellstown Castle in 1800 and sat as MP for Leitrim. His son Henry became the first Baron Annaly.[16][17][18][19]

Places linked to the name

  • Leixlip (Léim an Bhradáin), Co. Kildare — Sir Nicholas White bought the castle here in 1567, and Burke names the family 'of Leixlip'.[11][10]
  • Knocktopher (Cnoc an Tóchair), Co. Kilkenny — Sir Nicholas White established his estate at White's Hall nearby.[11]
  • Dromard (Lisnarawer), Co. Sligo — Parish where the Mac Giolla Bháin family, always called White in English, once held the townland of Lisnarawer.[2]
  • Bantry House, Co. Cork — Bought by Richard White in 1750; still owned by the White family, formerly Earls of Bantry.[16]
  • Luttrellstown Castle, Co. Dublin — Bought by Luke White in 1800, who renamed it Woodlands.[18]

Everyday lives

The Whites in the census

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

Whites All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the White bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic −10.9 points vs Ireland
Whites 62.7%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland +4.8 points vs Ireland
Whites 18.0%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian +5.1 points vs Ireland
Whites 15.2%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other +1.0 points vs Ireland
Whites 4.1%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −4.9 points vs Ireland
Whites 10.4%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −5.2 points vs Ireland
Whites 8.3%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −2.7 points vs Ireland
Whites 10.8%
All of Ireland 13.5%

61 Whites spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +2.7 points vs Ireland
Whites 83.1%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ +2.2 points vs Ireland
Whites 88.0%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 2,173 households lower than Ireland
Whites 4.53
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 lower than Ireland
Whites 5.96
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living about the same as Ireland
Whites 79.8%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,571
Farmer's son664
Farmer's daughter381
General labourer373
Agricultural labourer329
Farm servant273
Labourer240
House keeper214
Domestic servant177
Farm labourer153

Born outside Ireland

4.0% of Whites in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England239
Scotland81
United States29
Wales14
India12
Australia & NZ7

Median age: 25 in 1901, 27 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Whites

Men and boys

  1. John1,758
  2. James1,351
  3. Patrick1,073
  4. Thomas1,043
  5. William945
  6. Michael709
  7. Joseph357
  8. Robert314
  9. Edward273
  10. Richard233

Women and girls

  1. Mary1,886
  2. Margaret793
  3. Bridget700
  4. Ellen555
  5. Annie468
  6. Elizabeth438
  7. Catherine422
  8. Kate306
  9. Sarah305
  10. Jane288

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
White10,2079,7396,508Search

Related forms

  • Whyte — An older spelling that Woulfe gives alongside White for the Norman family; Sir Nicholas White is also written Whyte.[1][11]
  • Whitty — Grouped with White and Whyte under de Faoite in the Gaois dataset. Woulfe links MacWhitty with Mac Faoitigh.[5][9]
  • MacWhite — From Mac Faoitigh.[9]
  • Kilbane, MacIlwaine, Gillivan — Phonetic forms of Mac Giolla Bháin, the Sligo name also translated White. Woulfe says the Scottish name usually became MacIlvaine, occasionally Whyte.[2]
  • Bannon, Galligan, Bawn — Other English forms of Ó Banáin, Ó Gealagáin and Bán, names that some families translated as White.[7][8][15]

Diaspora

The Whites abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
White660,49124th

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

Heraldry

Is there a White coat of arms?

With so many separate families, there is no single White crest. Burke's General Armory records many White arms. For the Whites of Leixlip, Co. Kildare, and their branches it gives a silver shield with an engrailed red chevron between three red roses, a crest of a demi-lion holding a flag of St George, and the motto 'Echel agus coruic'. Other Irish lines, such as the Whites of Ballyellis in Wexford and the Hedges-Whites, Earls of Bantry, had different arms.[10]

Websites selling a single “White 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 White

  • Sir Nicholas White (c. 1532–1592)
    Lawyer and Elizabethan privy councillor, Master of the Rolls in Ireland from 1572.
  • Stephen White (1575–1646)
    Clonmel-born Jesuit scholar who wrote on the early Irish saints and defended Ireland's reputation.
  • Luke White (c. 1740s–1824)
    Dublin bookseller and lottery operator who bought Luttrellstown and sat as MP for Leitrim.
  • Richard White, 1st Earl of Bantry (1767–1851)
    Led loyal forces against the French at Bantry Bay and was made Baron Bantry in 1797.
  • Henry White, 1st Baron Annaly (1791–1873)
    Soldier and politician, son of Luke White, raised to the peerage as Baron Annaly.
  • Sir George Stuart White (1835–1912)
    Portstewart-born field marshal and VC who held Ladysmith during its siege in the Boer War.
  • Agnes Romilly White (1872–1945)
    Dungannon-born novelist and poet whose novels portray an Irish village in the 1890s.
  • Jack White (1879–1946)
    Antrim-born former British officer who co-founded the Irish Citizen Army.
  • Terence de Vere White (1912–1994)
    Irish lawyer, writer and literary editor.
  • Patrick White (1912–1990)
    Australian novelist and playwright, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
  • Alex White (born 1958)
    Labour Party politician and former government minister, later head of the Institute of International and European Affairs.
  • Jack White (born 1975)
    American musician, guitarist and singer of the White Stripes.

Questions

Questions about the White name

Is White an Irish surname?

It has been in Ireland since the Anglo-Norman invasion. Woulfe traces the main Irish White family to the Normans, from 'le White', and found the name common everywhere. Later English settlers added to it, and some Gaelic families, such as Mac Giolla Bháin of Sligo, translated their names as White. So an Irish White may be of Norman, English or Gaelic ancestry.[1][2][3]

What is White in Irish?

The usual Irish form is de Faoite, also written de Faoit; Faoiteach is another form. The 'de' translates the Norman article 'le', not the word 'of'. For Gaelic families who adopted White, the original name may be Mac Giolla Bháin, Ó Banáin or Ó Gealagáin, and MacWhite comes from Mac Faoitigh.[1][6][4][2][9][5]

What does the surname White mean?

For the Norman Whites it began as a nickname, 'le White', for someone of fair complexion, according to Woulfe. Where it translates a Gaelic name, it reflects the Irish words bán, 'white, fair', or geal, 'bright': Mac Giolla Bháin means 'son of the fair youth', and Ó Banáin and Ó Gealagáin are built on the same ideas.[1][2][7][8]

Are White and Whyte the same name?

Yes. Whyte is an older spelling of the same name; Woulfe gives both for the Norman family, and Sir Nicholas White of Leixlip appears under either. Gaois groups White, Whyte and Whitty together under de Faoite. The spelling a family uses today is not a reliable guide to its origin.[1][11][5]

Is there a White family crest or coat of arms?

Not one for everyone named White. Burke's General Armory records dozens of separate White arms. For the Whites of Leixlip and their branches he gives a red chevron between three red roses on silver, with the motto 'Echel agus coruic'. Other Irish families, such as the Whites of Ballyellis and the Earls of Bantry, had quite different arms.[10]

Where in Ireland is the White surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Whites lived in Dublin (1,464), Antrim (1,326), Cork (997). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Wexford (49 per 10,000), Louth (40 per 10,000), Waterford (38 per 10,000).

How common was the White surname in Ireland?

9,739 people were recorded as White in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 61st most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 450.

Looking for a White ancestor?

Search every White 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 Faoit, De Faoite, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Giolla Bháin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  3. Wikipedia, White (surname) (2026)
  4. Patrick Woulfe, Surnames of the Sean-Gaill (1923). Introductory chapter of Irish Names and Surnames
  5. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte: Irish surnames database (version 2) (2022). Cluster 'Faoite': de Faoite; English White, alternatives Whyte, Whitty.
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Faoiteach, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Banáin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  8. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Gealagáin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  9. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Faoitigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  10. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'White, or Whyte (Leixlip, co. Kildare)' and the following Irish White entries, including Corston, Waterford, Cadiz, Benicarloe, The Trimmer, Ballyellis and Hedges-White, Earl of Bantry.
  11. Wikipedia, Nicholas White (lawyer) (2026)
  12. Wikipedia, Stephen White (Jesuit) (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Leixlip (2026)
  14. Patrick Woulfe, Anglicisation of Irish Surnames (1923). Introductory chapter of Irish Names and Surnames
  15. Patrick Woulfe, Bán, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  16. Wikipedia, Bantry House (2026)
  17. Wikipedia, Richard White, 1st Earl of Bantry (2026)
  18. Wikipedia, Luke White (died 1824) (2026)
  19. Wikipedia, Henry White, 1st Baron Annaly (2026)
  20. 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.