Gaelic learned family

Hickey

Ó hÍcidhe

Also: O'Hickey

“descendant of the healer (íce, 'healing')”

🏔 Clare · An Clár 🏔 Tipperary · Tiobraid Árann 🏔 Limerick · Luimneach

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

The story

Hereditary physicians to the O'Briens of Thomond — the surname literally means 'healer's descendant', and their medical manuscripts in Irish survive in the great libraries.

Their world Around 1450 — The Gaelic Resurgence. Plague, absentee landlords and Gaelic recovery shrink English Ireland to a fortified strip around Dublin.

See them on the atlas ↗

What the name is made of

Ó hÍcidhe
Ó — descendant of (originally grandson of)
hÍcidhe — 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 Hickey an Irish name?

Hickey is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here.

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

From Wikipedia — “Hickey (surname)”

Hickey is a common surname of Irish origin. The original form Ó hÍceadha, which is still used in Ireland, was one of the Irish medical families in Gaelic times. Notable people with the surname include:

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

Neighbours — other names from the same counties

O'Brien · Clare, Limerick, Tipperary Carty · Tipperary, Clare Creagh · Clare, Limerick Griffin · Clare, Limerick Hayes · Limerick, Tipperary Hogan · Tipperary, Clare Hurley · Limerick, Clare Kennedy · Tipperary, Clare McInerney · Clare, Limerick Mulcahy · Tipperary, Limerick Ryan · Tipperary, Limerick Shanahan · Clare, Tipperary Sheehy · Limerick, Tipperary Slattery · Clare, Tipperary

Quick answers

Is Hickey an Irish name?

Hickey is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here. In Irish the name is Ó hÍcidhe.

What does the surname Hickey mean?

Hickey (Irish: Ó hÍcidhe) means “descendant of the healer (íce, 'healing')”. Origin: Gaelic learned family.

Where in Ireland is the surname Hickey from?

The historic homeland of the Hickey name is Clare, Tipperary, Limerick. People moved, so the name can be found far beyond it.

What is the Irish for Hickey?

Ó hÍcidhe. Related spellings: O'Hickey.

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

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