Norman

French

de Fréins

Also: ffrench

“'the Frenchman'”

🏔 Galway · Gaillimh 🏔 Roscommon · Ros Comáin 🏔 Wexford · Loch Garman

The sept's historic heartland, highlighted. People moved — a name can be found far from home.

The story

A Tribe of Galway that kept the archaic 'ffrench' spelling like a signature; Percy French of Roscommon later gave Ireland its best-loved comic songs — 'Come back, Paddy Reilly'.

Their world Around 1493 — The Kildare Ascendancy. The English crown is too poor to govern Ireland directly, so it governs through the greatest of the Geraldines instead.

See them on the atlas ↗

What the name is made of

de Fréins
de — of (Norman, from a place rather than a person)
Fréins — the ancestor, trade or place the name is built on

Find this form in the Irish-to-English index → · What Ó and Mac actually mean

Is French an Irish name?

French came in with the Normans after 1169. That makes it an Irish surname — it has been one for over eight hundred years — but not a Gaelic one.

The five answers, and why it is rarely yes or no →

From Wikipedia — “French (surname)”

French is an anglicised version of Defreine, which has a Norman origin. Although the name is of French origin, it does not mean "French"; rather, it comes from the French word for ash tree.

Read the full article ↗ · Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Neighbours — other names from the same counties

Darcy · Galway, Wexford Dolan · Roscommon, Galway Donnellan · Galway, Roscommon Fallon · Roscommon, Galway Kelly · Galway, Roscommon Kenny · Galway, Roscommon Larkin · Galway, Wexford McDonagh · Roscommon, Galway Mooney · Roscommon, Galway Naughton · Galway, Roscommon Bermingham · Galway Blake · Galway Bodkin · Galway Brennan · Roscommon

Quick answers

Is French an Irish name?

French came in with the Normans after 1169. That makes it an Irish surname — it has been one for over eight hundred years — but not a Gaelic one. In Irish the name is de Fréins.

What does the surname French mean?

French (Irish: de Fréins) means “'the Frenchman'”. Origin: Norman.

Where in Ireland is the surname French from?

The historic homeland of the French name is Galway, Roscommon, Wexford. People moved, so the name can be found far beyond it.

What is the Irish for French?

de Fréins. Related spellings: ffrench.

Looking for the French family crest? Read this first — arms belong to people, not surnames, and the honest version is more interesting. Tracing French ancestors? The step-by-step guide.

Not your spelling? Try the full A–Z. Know more about the French name? Add to the story.