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Surname Etymology and Meaning of MORIARTY

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

(origin: Gaelic.) Noble, illustrious, from Mor, great, and artach, exalted.

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).

Irish (Kerry): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Muircheartaigh ‘descendant of Muircheartach’, a personal name composed of the elements muir ‘sea’ + ceardach ‘skilled’, i.e. ‘skilled navigator’. A Meath and Monaghan name of the same form is Anglicized as Murtagh.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)