McAvity History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsThere are multitude of rich histories underlying the many Irish surnames in use today. The name McAvity originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Gafraidh. Gafraidh or Gothraidh equates with the English personal name Godfrey. Variations that start with the prefix Mac or Mc mean son of Godfrey. Early Origins of the McAvity familyThe surname McAvity was first found in County Fermanagh (Irish: Fear Manach) in the southwestern part of Northern Ireland, Province of Ulster, where they held a family seat at Ballymacaffrey near Five mile Town in Fermanagh near the Tyrone border. 1 Early History of the McAvity familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our McAvity research. Another 51 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1987 is included under the topic Early McAvity History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. McAvity Spelling VariationsPronunciation, rather than spelling, was what guided scribes and church officials in recording names, a practice that often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname McAvity are preserved in documents that were examined for evidence of the family's history. The various spellings of McAvity included MacCaffery, MacCaffrey, MacCafferty, MacAffery, MacAffry, MacAfferty, MacGoffrey, MacGodfrey and many more. Early Notables of the McAvity familyMore information is included under the topic Early McAvity Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the McAvity familyNorth America received thousands of Irish immigrants from the English-ruled Ireland during the 19th century. Once in the United States or what would become Canada, these immigrants quickly contributed to the ongoing settling and industrialization processes. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. An exhaustive examination of immigrant and passenger lists has shown many early immigrants bearing the surname of McAvity: Biddy MacCafferty who settled in Newcastle in 1804; Arthur, Charles, Daniel, Edward, Henry, Hugh, James, John, Patrick, and Robert MacCafferty all arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1840 and 1860.
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