Talk:Kerry (name)

Kerry a Welsh surname?
The article states "Kerry is also a common surname and as such is of Welsh origin". I am Welsh and I am unaware of this beign a Welsh surname or of it being from the Welsh language. There is a male first name 'Ceri' which to my knowledge is not linked to the Irish name or county. The link in the article to the name origin and frequency seems to suggest that the surname may well be of English rather than Irish origin (though there can be multiple origins for one name, of course) but it does not suggest a Welsh origin. Or is it being suggested that Kerry as a surname in Ireland originated with Welshmen who went there in previous centuries (which is the case with Walsh, for example)?

If no-one can give provide examples of the Welsh surname Kerry or of its Welsh origin then I will amend this article. Huwbwici (talk) 15:17, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Kerry a Goddess?
It is stated in the article "Kerry is also to be known historically as a goddess, which would relate to people called Kerry today." Where is this from? I have not found any evidence of the name Kerry belonging to any goddess in the British Isles. I would like some references please. I also agree with the above user and have never seen the name "Kerry" associated with anything of Welsh origin, only Irish. Thank you. Topazcat (talk) 21:25, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

Ciar is the colour 'Chestnut'
Many Irish / Celtic names incorporated a colour, usually that of the hair of the founding father of the clan or sept or family. Perhaps the best-known of such Celtic / proto-Celtic 'colour names' is that rendered Goliath in today's English, being a mercenary on the Philistine payroll who placed second in his hero's single combat against David of the Israelites: Goll is a common enough given name in the old Irish (Goll was a close friend of Fionn MacCumhail in the old tales) and 'liath' is the Irish / Celtic for grey - thus, Goll of the grey hair. The family name Lee and its variations comes from this word.

Other 'colour names' include Donn (brown) which gives the names Donne, Dunne and more; Rua (red) which gives Rowe; Dubh (black - pronounced 'doo') which appears in Douglas as well as in Dublin (black + pool); Finn (fair) which gave us the original word for (white) wine, and its derivative, Vincent.

Ciar appears in the proverb 'aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile' ('one earwig recognises another', or more fluently, 'it takes one to know one'). Ciar is the etymology of the many family names which incorporate this colour or which have become the colour along - these names include Kerr, Kerry, Carey. That similar names arose independently in Britain is quite reasonable, since its population - even after the Anglo-Saxon exterminations and expulsions of the previous Celtic populations - comprised still a large proportion of people of Celtic origins, culture and language. The same applies to all of the lands where the Celts were displaced or overlain with other identities - always the new never quite obliterates the old. Thus Ciar as an origin for a name could have arisen from any of the European areas that had ever been Celtic.

Swimtwobirds (talk) 01:18, 23 April 2012 (UTC)Aodh Ó Conchubhair (Swimtwobirds.org) Swimtwobirds (talk) 01:18, 23 April 2012 (UTC)