Show ContentsCary History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Irish name Cary originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Ciardha. 1 However, "Carey" and its spelling variations have also been used as the Anglicized forms of six other Irish patronymics: Ó Ceinin, Ó Ciarain, Mac Giolla Ceire, Ó Carra, Mac Giolla Chathair, and the nearly-extinct MacFhiachra.

Early Origins of the Cary family

The surname Cary was first found in the county of Kilkenny (Irish: Cill Chainnigh), the former Kingdom of Osraige (Ossory), located in Southeastern Ireland in the province of Leinster. Today Cary is a barony in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Early History of the Cary family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cary research. Another 174 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1300, 1620, 1761, 1784 and 1834 are included under the topic Early Cary History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cary Spelling Variations

Before widespread literacy came to Ireland, a name was often recorded under several different variations during the life of its bearer. Accordingly, numerous spelling variations were revealed in the search for the origin of the name Cary family name. Variations found include Carrie, Carry, Carre, Carie, Carrey, MacCarry, MacHarry, MacHarris, O'Carey, Cary, M'Carrie, Kearey, Kearrie, Keerie, Keery, Keerey, M'Harrie, M'Harry, M'Hary, M'Harie and many more.

Early Notables of the Cary family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Patrick Carrie, notable Irish patriot. Also, three famous brothers of the Carey name, John Carey, the inventor of the distress rocket for ships, went to London and taught school, becoming a most prolific writer, writing over 50 classics, including short stories and poems. The next brother, William, a painter and engraver, stayed in Dublin...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cary Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cary Ranking

In the United States, the name Cary is the 2,670th most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name. 2


United States Cary migration to the United States +

During the 19th century thousands of impoverished Irish families made the long journey to British North America and the United States. These people were leaving a land that had become beset with poverty, lack of opportunity, and hunger. In North America, they hoped to find land, work, and political and religious freedoms. Although the majority of the immigrants that survived the long sea passage did make these discoveries, it was not without much perseverance and hard work: by the mid-19th century land suitable for agriculture was short supply, especially in British North America, in the east; the work available was generally low paying and physically taxing construction or factory work; and the English stereotypes concerning the Irish, although less frequent and vehement, were, nevertheless, present in the land of freedom, liberty, and equality for all men. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. Research into passenger and immigration lists has brought forth evidence of the early members of the Cary family in North America:

Cary Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Richard Cary, aged 17, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Primrose" 3
  • Nicholas Cary, who arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1637 3
  • James Cary, who arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1639 3
  • Miles Cary, who arrived in Virginia in 1645 3
  • Francis Cary, who landed in Maryland in 1647 3
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Cary Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • William Cary, who arrived in Virginia in 1700 3
  • Cornelius Cary, who arrived in Virginia in 1705 3
  • Warren Cary, who arrived in Virginia in 1711 3
  • Eleanore Cary, who arrived in Virginia in 1714 3
  • Jacques Cary, aged 40, who landed in Louisiana in 1719 3
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Cary Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Isaac Thomas Cary, who landed in America in 1804 3
  • Lucius Cary, aged 30, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1812 3
  • Patrick Cary, aged 25, who arrived in America in 1821 3
  • States T Cary, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1849 3
  • T L Cary, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Canada Cary migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Cary Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • Mr. Bernard Cary U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1783 4
Cary Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Mary Cary, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1838
  • Ellen Cary, aged 25, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1838 aboard the barque "Pallas" from Cork, Ireland
  • B I Cary, who landed in Victoria, British Columbia in 1862

Australia Cary migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Cary Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • James Cary, a sawyer, who arrived in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) sometime between 1825 and 1832
  • Mr. Jacob Cary, (b. 1819), aged 22, English convict who was convicted in Somerset, England for 15 years for house breaking, transported aboard the "David Clarke" on 3rd June 1841, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
  • Miss Ellen Cary, (b. 1830), aged 28, Cornish needlewoman and housemaid departing from Liverpool aboard the ship "Northern Light" arriving in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 9th May 1858 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Cary (post 1700) +

  • William Sterling Cary (1927-2021), American Christian minister who was the president of the National Council of Churches (NCC) from 1972 to 1975, the first Black president in the council's history
  • Lott Cary (1780-1828), American Baptist minister
  • Diana Serra Cary (1918-2020), known as Baby Peggy, a major American silent movie era child star who made over 150 shorts for Century Studios and received 1.2 million fan letters in 1922, dubbed "The Million Dollar Baby" for her 1.5 million a year salary in 1924
  • Charles S. Cary (1827-1906), American lawyer, politician and railroad executive, Solicitor of the United States Treasury
  • Samuel Fenton Cary (1814-1900), American politician and prohibitionist, eponym of Cary, North Carolina
  • Phoebe Cary (1824-1871), American poet
  • Liam Cary (b. 1947), American Catholic bishop
  • Hetty Carr Cary (1836-1892), American wife of Confederate General John Pegram, best remembered for making the first three battle flags of the Confederacy
  • Glover H. Cary (1885-1936), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky (1931-1936)
  • Frank T. Cary (1920-2006), American businessman, CEO of IBM (1973-1981)
  • ... (Another 62 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


Suggested Readings for the name Cary +

  • Senior Line of Virginia Carys by Boyd Balford Cary.

  1. MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  4. Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
  5. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 3rd June 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/david-clarke
  6. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_nsw_1850_59.pdf


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