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Healy History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables World Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Healy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

While many Irish names are quite familiar to us, their original Gaelic forms are often forgotten and mysterious. The original Gaelic form of the name Healy is Ó hEalaighthe, which is derived from the word "ealadhach," which means "ingenious." Another Gaelic form of the surname is Ó hEilidhe, which is derived from the word "eilidhe," which means "claimant." 1

Early Origins of the Healy family

The surname Healy was first found in County Sligo (Irish: Sligeach), in the province of Connacht in Northwestern Ireland, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Healy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Healy research. Another 161 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1309, 1579, 1656, 1690, 1695, 1701, 1724, 1741, 1794 and 1800 are included under the topic Early Healy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Healy Spelling Variations

Throughout the early history of this name, spellings of the surname in various records changed frequently largely due to the recorder's interpretation of how the name sounded at the time of the entry. Spelling variations revealed in the search for the origin of the Healy family name include Haly, Haley, Haily, Hely, Healy, Healey, O'Healey, O'Haly and many more.

Early Notables of the Healy family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

Patrick O'Healy, was a Franciscan Bishop of Mayo, tortured and martyred in 1579; Sir John Hely (died 1701), was an English-born, Irish judge, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1690 and later Chief...

Healy World Ranking

In the United States, the name Healy is the 1,735^th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 2 However, in Australia, the name Healy is ranked the 521^st most popular surname with an estimated 7,378 people with that name. 3 And in New Zealand, the name Healy is the 838^th popular surname with an estimated 868 people with that name. 4 The United Kingdom ranks Healy as 969^th with 7,191 people. 5

Healy migration to the United States +

Irish families began to migrate to North America in the late 18th century in the hopes of gaining their own plot of land. The majority of these early immigrant families were relatively well off because the transatlantic passage was costly. As a result the decision to immigrate was carefully made. Those immigrants that arrived in the late 1840s differed because their decision to leave was in direct response to the Great Potato Famine. Many of the families that crossed the Atlantic during this decade were destitute, either having spent all they had on the fare or even starting with nothing, but being sponsored by a philanthropic society. Whenever, these Irish families came to North America, they were made great contributions to the developing nations of the United States and what would come to be known as Canada: the earlier settlers as land clearing homesteaders, and the later immigrants as the muscle that would build the industries and routes of transportation so critical to a powerful nation. Research into the passenger and immigration lists has shown many early and significant Irish immigrants bearing the name Healy:

Healy Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Dennis Healy, aged 29, who landed in New York in 1800 6
Farrell Healy, who arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in 1811 6
Paul Healy, aged 35, who landed in New York in 1812 6
Jarnes Healy, who landed in America in 1812 6
Elizabeth Healy, who landed in Massachusetts in 1813 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Healy Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Michael F Healy, who arrived in Arkansas in 1903 6

Healy migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Healy Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Patrick Healy, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1822
Abbey Healy, aged 40, who landed in Canada in 1823
Denis Healy, aged 18, who landed in Canada in 1823
James Healy, aged 14, who arrived in Canada in 1823
Margaret Healy, aged 5, who landed in Canada in 1823
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Healy migration to Australia +

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

Healy Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Patrick Healy, (b. 1794), aged 28, Irish ploughman who was convicted in Kidare, Ireland for life, transported aboard the "Countess of Harcourt" on 3rd September 1822, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Thomas Healy, a butcher, who arrived in New South Wales, Australia sometime between 1825 and 1832
Mr. John Healy, (b. 1790), aged 40, Irish ploughman who was convicted in County Cork, Ireland for life for manslaughter, transported aboard the "Forth" on 1st January 1830, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1835 8
Mr. Jerry Healy, (b. 1828), aged 16, Irish labourer who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years for pick pocketing, transported aboard the "Cadet" on 9th April 1844, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
Mary Healy, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Inconstant" in 1849 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Healy 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:

Healy Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Francis Healy, aged 39, a surgeon, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Duke of Roxburgh" in 1840 11
John Francis Healy, aged 10, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Duke of Roxburgh" in 1840 11
Catherine Bedelia F. Healy, aged 9, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Duke of Roxburgh" in 1840 11
Francis Healy, aged 8, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Duke of Roxburgh" in 1840 11
Michael Healy, aged under 1, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Duke of Roxburgh" in 1840 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Healy (post 1700) +

Mary Healy (1918-2015), American actress, singer, and variety entertainer who performed almost exclusively with her husband, Peter Lind Hayes for over 50 years, Miss New Orleans in 1935; he and her husband were the first to sing the commercial jingle, "See the USA in Your Chevrolet"
Michael Augustine Healy (1839-1904), American captain in the United States Revenue Cutter Service, USCGC Healy (WAGB-20), a United States Coast Guard research icebreaker
Commander Howard R. Healy (1899-1942), United States Navy officer
Bernadine Patricia Healy (1944-2011), American cardiologist and former National Institutes of Health director
George Peter Alexander Healy (1813-1894), American painter
Ted Healy (1896-1937), American vaudeville performer and actor
James Augustine Healy (1830-1900), the first African-American Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States
Shay Healy (1943-2021), Irish songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of Nighthawks, a RTÉ Television chat show of the late 1980s
Cian Healy (b. 1987), Irish rugby union footballer
Dermot Healy (1947-2014), Irish novelist, playwright, and poet winner of the Hennessy Award, the Tom Gallon Award, and the Encore Award
... (Another 13 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Healy family +

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr. Thomas Healy (1922-1942), English Stoker 1st Class from England, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales and survived the sinking, was listed as missing and presumed killed during the evacuation of Singapore 1942 12

RMS Titanic

Miss Hanora Healy, (Nora), aged 29, Irish Third Class passenger from Athenry, Galway who sailed aboard the RMS Titanic and survived in the sinking in life boat 16 13

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/
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/countess-of-harcourt
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th October 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/forth
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/cadet/
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The INCONSTANT the Voyage - 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Inconstant.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 5th November 2010). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html
Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html