Dey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

All Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name Dey originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Deaghaidh or Ó Diaghaidh. 1

Early Origins of the Dey family

The surname Dey was first found in County Clare (Irish: An Clár) located on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where O'Dea was chief of Dysart-O'Dea, now the parish of Dysart, barony of Inchiquin, one of the original chiefs and clans of ancient Thomond. Today Dysert O'Dea Castle still stands near Corofin, County Clare with its Romanesque Doorway and High Cross and was the site of the Battle of Dysert O'Dea in 1318. It was here that the Irish chieftain Conor O'Dea, chief of the Cineal Fearmaic and ally of Murtough O'Brien, stood his ground only to be defeated by the invading forces from Scotland.

Early History of the Dey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dey research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1318 and 1434 are included under the topic Early Dey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dey Spelling Variations

Names written in official documents were generally spelt as they sounded, leading to the problem of one name being recorded under several different variations, creating the illusion in records of more than one person. Among the many spelling variations of the surname Dey that are preserved in documents of the family history are Day, Dea, O'Dea and others.

Early Notables of the Dey family

Notable among the family name at this time was Most Rev. Thomas O'Dea; and Cornelius O'Dea (d. 1434), Archdeacon of Killaloe and later Bishop of Limerick. Three items of his have survived over the centuries: his Mitre, Crozier and a manuscript now entitled "The Black Book of Limerick." Today, they are all kept in Limerick's Hunt Museum. "According to a legend Bishop Cornelius O'Dea went to Dublin to attend a synod of bishops without his...
Another 74 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dey Ranking

In the United States, the name Dey is the 10,779^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Dey migration to the United States +

The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish migrating out of their homeland in a great measure due to the oppressive imperial policies of the English government and landowners. Many of these Irish families sailed to North America aboard overcrowded passenger ships. By far, the largest influx of Irish immigrants to North America occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. These particular immigrants were instrumental in creation of the United States and Canada as major industrial nations because the many essential elements such as the roadways, canals, bridges, and railways required an enormous quantity of cheap labor, which these poor immigrants provided. Later generations of Irish in these countries also went on to make valuable contributions in such fields as the arts, commerce, politics, and education. Extensive research into immigration and passenger lists has revealed many early immigrants bearing the name Dey:

Dey Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Dey, who landed in Virginia in 1664 3

Dey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

J L Dey, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1855 3
Susanna Dey, aged 23, who arrived in New York, NY in 1856 3
Joost Dey, aged 23, who arrived in New York, NY in 1856 3
Richard Dey, who landed in Iowa in 1888 3

Dey migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

John Dey, aged 34, a farmer, who arrived in New Plymouth aboard the ship "Phoebe Dunbar" between 1841 and 1850

Contemporary Notables of the name Dey (post 1700) +

Joseph C. "Joe" Dey Jr. (1907-1991), American golf administrator, first Commissioner of the PGA Tour (1969-1974), eponym of the Joe Dey Award, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame
Thomas Ridgeway "Tom" Dey (b. 1965), American film director, known for Shanghai Noon (2000), Showtime (2002) and Failure to Launch (2006)
Susan Dey (b. 1952), born Susan Hallock Smith, American Golden Globe winning actress, probably best known for her role as Laurie Partridge, on the 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family, and as Grace Van Owen, on L.A. Law, from 1986 to 1992
Theunis Dey, American politician, Member of New Jersey State Council from Bergen County, 1779-81 4
Peter Anthony Dey (1825-1911), American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Iowa, 1876 4
J. Ramsey Dey, American Republican politician, Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, 1880-81 4
E. P. Dey, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 1864 4
Cecil A. Dey, American politician, Supervisor of Handy Township, Michigan, 1916 4
Graeme Dey, Scottish politician, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Angus South (2011-)
Edgar Ernest Dey (1883-1912), Canadian early amateur and professional ice hockey player, who it thought to have been in the first trade involving professional hockey players
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html