View Message

[Surname] Surname possibly in Latin
Ancestor shows as Keady McSherry on records from Pittsburgh, Pa catholic church. All other surnames are in latin, but I have no idea what Keady (Irish decent) could be.
Thanks,
pgee5@sbcglobal.net
vote up1vote down

Replies

GaelicSorry, "Keady" sounds so typically Irish, I can't imagine why you'd think it Latin, lol. A Wikipedia article (with a definition reference):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keady
vote up1vote down
GaelicSorry, "Keady" sounds so typically Irish, I can't imagine why you'd think it Latin, lol. A Wikipedia article (with a definition reference):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keady
vote up1vote down
I agree, certainly not Latin, and, in this context, not a surname, it seems. However there is an Irish surname Keady, but it's not from the town of that name. It's from the Irish Mac Céidaigh, "son of (a man named) Céadach". Céadach has been englished as Kedagh. So your ancestor may have been called Keady as a version of Kedagh, because of a connection with a Keady family, or because of a family connection with the town of Keady.
vote up1vote down
meaning of CéadachJY---What do you think of this explanation of Céadach? '* Brigh: This Irish word seems to he the root of the surname Bright. The name Ceadach ("cead:" Irish, first; Chald. "chad") implies "the foremost man;" and Ceadach na Brighe means "the man who was foremost for his strength."'http://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/TraceyHeber.php
vote up1vote down
"Kedagh,Céadach m[ale] a well-used name in the later Middle Ages. Its meaning is unclear, but it may come from a word for 'first', or a word meaning 'hundred'". Julia Cresswell, "Irish First Names".
Edward MacLysaght, discussing the surname Keady ("Surnames of Ireland") writes "Céadach was a personal name (from céad, hundred) popular with the O'Mores of Leix with whom the MacKeadys were associated."
Interesting to see an early (pre-surnames)instance of the name.
vote up1vote down