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Re: Irish surname meaning "green"
in reply to a message by Lepic
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Glas means green when used to describe trees, grass etc., but grey for humans and animals.
Another Irish word for green is Uaine. There was a man's name Uaine, englished as Owney, and a surname based on the name, Ó hUainín ('descendant of little Owney') which has become Honeen, Honan, and Greene, as the English language replaced the Irish.
Other surnames that have sometimes become Green(e) under English influence are O'Grehan (Ó Gréacháin), O'Greenan (Ó Grianáin), and MacGlashan, which last is based on the word 'glas'. According to Edward MacLysaght ("The Surnames of Ireland" et al.) in Ireland the surnames Green and Greene are very rarely borne by descendants of English Green(e)s.
Glass as a Gaelic surname belongs to Scotland as well as Ireland.
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Thanks :D
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