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Updated May 26, 2021

Family name origins & meanings

  • Irish (Derry, Connacht, Munster) : Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Conchobhair ‘descendant of Conchobhar’, a personal name which is said to have begun as Cú Chobhair, from ‘hound’ (genitive con) + cobhar ‘desiring’, i.e. ‘hound of desire’. Present-day bearers of the surname claim descent from a 10th-century king of Connacht of this name. In Irish legend, Conchobhar was a king of Ulster who lived at around the time of Christ and who adopted the youthful Cú Chulainn.

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