# Irish (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/irish/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as an ethnonym.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norse |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,336 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,813 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 42,086 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.0% (7,192 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈaɪɹɪʃ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English Irish (12th c.), from Old English *Īrisċ, from Old English Īras (“Irishmen”), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire (“Ireland”)), further origin heavily debated but probably from Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū (“fat land, fertile”), from Proto-Indo-European *péyh₂wr̥ (“fat, swelling”), from *peyh₂- (“to swell; to be fat”), akin to Ancient Greek πῑ́ειρα (pī́eira, “fertile land”), Sanskrit पीव॑री (pī́varī, “fat”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Irish in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 89% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 5.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Similar surnames

Irick, Ihrig.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.