Today's Irish surnames are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Caravan originally appeared in Gaelic as O Gairbhin, derived from the word "garbh," which means "rough."
The surname Caravan was first found in County Tyrone (Irish:Tír Eoghain), the ancient territory of the O'Neills, now in the Province of Ulster, central Northern Ireland, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Caravan research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1000, 1527, 1595, 1558 and 1560 are included under the topic Early Caravan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Spelling variations of this family name include: Garvin, Garvey, Garwin, Garvine, Garven, Garvan, Garvy, Garvie, Garwen and many more.
Notable amongst the family name at this time was John Garvey (1527-1595), an Irish Protestant bishop of Kilmore and Archbishop of Armagh. He was the eldest son of John O'Garvey of Morisk, co. Mayo and was born in the county of Kilkenny. "He was educated at Oxford, where he graduated in the reign of Edward VI; but through some negligence his name does not appear in the public...
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Caravan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In Newfoundland, Canada, the name Caravan is the 632nd most popular surname with an estimated 72 people with that name. [1]
Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: James Garvey who settled in Virginia in 1680; Daniel Garvin, an 'enforced' Irish emigrant, sent to America in 1742; Patrick Garve, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1773.