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Origins Available: |
| Ireland |
The original Gaelic form of Aig was Mac Taidh or Ó Taidhg.
The surname Aig was first found in County Galway (Irish: Gaillimh) part of the province of Connacht, located on the west coast of the Island, where they held a family seat from ancient times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Aig research. Another 95 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1493, 1583, 1589, 1772 and 1810 are included under the topic Early Aig History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The Middle Ages saw a great number of spelling variations for surnames common to the Irish landscape. One reason for these variations is the fact that surnames were not rigidly fixed by this period. The following variations for the name Aig were encountered in the archives: MacTeige, McTeige, MacTigue, McTigue, MacCaig, MacCaige, McCaig, McCaige, MacKaig, McKaig, MacKeague, McKeague, McKeage, MacTague and many more.
Notable among the family name at this time was
In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the Aig family came to North America quite early: Bernard, Charles, Edward, Hugh, Thomas and William McTague, who all arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1840 and 1860; Andrew, Bernard, Hugh, John and William MacTeague arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.