Orr (surname) explained

Orr
Region:Scotland (Argyll, Renfrew, etc.)
Language origin:Scottish Gaelic
Footnotes:Frequency Comparisons[1]

Orr is a surname of Scottish and Ulster-Scots origin. It is derived from the Gaelic Odhar meaning "dark, pale". In Scotland, Orr may be a sept of Clan Campbell.

Etymology

The primary origin is from the Gaelic odhar, meaning "dark", "dun".[2] Padraig Mac Giolla Domhnaigh, suggested that the Irish surname originates from an Anglicisation of Gaelic Mac Iomhaire. Mac Giolla Domhnaigh stated that this was an old name from Renfrewshire, and a sept of the Campbells; he stated that the name was earlier spelt Mac Ure.[3]

In Ireland the name is common particularly in Ulster, and mainly found in County Antrim, County Down, County Londonderry and County Tyrone. The first recorded evidence of the name in Ulster is of those who came from Scotland with Sir Hugh Montgomery in 1606 to settle in North Down on lands ceded by the O'Neill family. They were chiefly Presbyterian, with some Episcopalians, and a few Roman Catholics and Quakers. According to Bell, the earliest record of the name in Ireland is that of a family in County Tyrone in 1655.[4] However, according to Orr, the earliest record of the name in Ireland is of Richard Orr of Clontarf in 1563.[5]

In Scotland, the name is first known to have been recorded in Renfrewshire. Historian Edward MacLysaght suggests that the name in Scotland derives from the parish of Urr in Kirkcudbrightshire. Indeed, the River Urr flowed through the area. A tradition of some of the Orrs in Northern Ireland has it that they were descended from outlawed brothers whose original family name was McLean; they crossed this river and then made their way by boat to Donaghadee in County Down in the early 17th century. Having escaped persecution, they took river's name as their surname and settled in Newtownards.[6]

People

Fictional characters

by Iain Banks

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. http://forebears.co.uk/surnames/orr Orr Surname at Forebears
  2. Web site: Learn about the family history of your surname . 21 February 2010 . Ancestry.com. This webpage cited: Book: Dictionary of American Family Names . . 0-19-508137-4. for the surname "Ore".
  3. Web site: Orr . www.libraryireland.com . 12 March 2010. This webpage cited: Book: Some Anglicised Surnames in Ireland . Mac Giolla-Domhnaigh, Padraig .
  4. Book: Bell . Robert . The Book of Ulster Surnames . 1990 . 1988 . . Dundonald, Belfast, UK . 0-85640-405-5 . 211 .
  5. Book: Orr . Brian J . Orr-Some: Research Into the Orr Family . 2009 . Heritage Books Inc . United Kingdom . 978-0-7884-4266-7 . 5 .
  6. The Life and Times of the Rev. John Orr, M.A., of Portaferry delivered by James C. Rutherford in the Presbyterian school-room, Portaferry, 29 March 1912. Cited at https://www.scribd.com/doc/3981894/A-Tribute-to-Portaferry-the-Pearl-of-Loch-Cuan (Scribd) and http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/O/OrrAJ.htm (Ancestry.com).