McGerr History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Etymology of McGerr

What does the name McGerr mean?

The first family to use the name McGerr lived in the ancient Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. It was used as a nickname for a short person. The Gaelic form of the surname is Mac an gheairr, which means son of the short or low-sized man.

Early Origins of the McGerr family

The surname McGerr was first found in Kirkcudbrightshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Chille Chuithbheirt), part of the present day Council Area of Dumfries and Galloway, former county in Southwestern Scotland, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, and were believed to be descended from one of the many (350) chiefs who accompanied the banished King Colla da Crioch, who left Ireland for the Hebrides and south west Scotland in the year 327. This ancient Irish clann were originally from County Armagh in Ireland.

Early History of the McGerr family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McGerr research. Another 124 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1658, 1684 and 1890 are included under the topic Early McGerr History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McGerr Spelling Variations

Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. McGerr has been written as McGirr, McGeer, McGear, MacGirr, MacGeer, McGhirr and many more.

Early Notables of the McGerr family

More information is included under the topic Early McGerr Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the McGerr family to Ireland

Some of the McGerr family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the McGerr family

Significant portions of the populations of both the United States and Canada are still made up of the ancestors of Dalriadan families. Some of those in Canada originally settled the United States, but went north as United Empire Loyalists in the American War of Independence. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the ancestors of many Scots on both sides of the border begin to recover their collective national heritage through Clan societies and highland games. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants: Felix McGirr who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1827; Bernard in 1858; Owen in 1849; Patrick in 1830; Robert in 1853; all in Philadelphia; Jane McGear settled in Delaware in 1772..

Contemporary Notables of the name McGerr (post 1700) +

Catherine F. McGerr, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Nebraska, 1924 1

Sources +

The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html