Lurie History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

The name Lurie originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Cleirigh, from the word "cleireach," which means "clerk" or "cleric." 1 The name denotes a descendant of Cleireach, who was born around 820 AD, and descended from Guaire the Hospitable, the famous king of Connacht.

Early Origins of the Lurie family

The surname Lurie was first found in County Galway. A descendent of Guaire, Cleireach, the namesake of the O'Clerys, was born around 820 AD, about two hundred years before hereditary surnames came into general use. 2 However, the name O'Clery first appeared around 950 AD, making it one of the earliest recorded hereditary surnames. The O'Clerys were the dominant sept in what is now the diocese of Kilmacduagh in the county of Galway, but declined in power until they were forced out of their original territory by the mid-13th century. The most important branch of the family settled in Counties Derry and Donegal and became prominent historians and poets. The branch that settled in County Cavan has seemingly all but vanished. However, the English surname Clarke has been widely substituted for O'Clery there, following the Plantation of Ulster, and many Irish Clarkes may actually be O'Clerys, rather than descendants of English settlers. Another branch is still fairly common in the counties of Kilkenny, Waterford, and Tipperary. The name is presently found mostly in Munster and Dublin.

Early History of the Lurie family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lurie research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1450, 1507, 1636, 1781 and 1860 are included under the topic Early Lurie History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lurie Spelling Variations

One must realize that attempting to record a Gaelic name in English was a daunting task. Even today the translation is a difficult one. Accordingly, spelling variations were the norm. Scribes recorded people's names as they saw fit. As a result, surnames often had many spelling variations. For Lurie some of these variations included: Clery, Cleary, Claree, Clarey, Cleare, Clearey, Clerey, O'Cleary, O'Clery, Macchlery, Clerkin, Clark and many more.

Early Notables of the Lurie family

Another 42 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Lurie Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lurie Ranking

In the United States, the name Lurie is the 16,850^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Lurie family

North America accepted thousands of Irish immigrants during the 19th century as their homeland suffered under foreign imperialistic rule. Although settlers from the early portion of the century came to North America by choice in search of land, by far the largest influx of Irish immigrants came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Many of these Irish families left the country destitute and in some cases suffering from disease. However, those who survived the long ocean voyage were especially vital to the development of industry in the United States and what would become known as Canada. Research of immigration and passenger lists has shown many early immigrants bearing the name Lurie: Thomas Clary, who arrived in the Virginia colony in 1642; George Cleary, who was on record in Barbados plantation between the years 1679 and 1680; Darby Cleary, who came to America in 1736.

Contemporary Notables of the name Lurie (post 1700) +

Ronald Philip "Ron" Lurie (1941-2020), American businessman and politician, 19th Mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada from 1987 to 1991
Alison Lurie (1926-2020), American novelist and academic who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1984 novel Foreign Affairs
Gwendolyn Lurie, American politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Kings County 21st District, 1937
Cheryl Lurie, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Colorado, 1980
Bobbie Lurie, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Missouri, 2000
Samuil Aronovich Lurie (1942-2015), Russian writer and literary historian

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/