Adams

An Irish surname of Antrim. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 427,865 people, the 42nd most common surname in the country.

Adams is the anglicised form of two distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.

Mac Ádaim, Mac Adaim, son of Adam (one of the commonest names among the early Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland). This family stood in Co. Cork.

Mac Adamóid, son of Adamot (a diminutive of Adam)

Where the name comes from

Adam was one of the commonest names among the early Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland, and Mac Ádaim is simply son of Adam. What makes it interesting is who took it: the Barrys of Rathcormac and Ballynagloch in Co. Cork assumed this Irish patronymic, as did other early Anglo-Norman settlers. Norman families going native, and taking an Irish surname to do it.

The same name was written MacAdam, MacCadam, MacCaddam, MacAdams and Adamson before it settled on Adams. A rarer Connacht name, Mac Adamóid, son of Adamot, is behind some of them too.

The Giant's Causeway at twilight with wet hexagonal basalt columns stretching to the sea and long exposure blurred waves
The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

Antrim, photographed

Photographs made in Antrim.

Antrim

The Antrim coast road runs about 25 miles between the cliffs and the sea, with nine glens coming down to it. The rock is basalt, the same flow that formed the Giant's Causeway. Scotland is 12 miles off at the narrowest point and visible on a clear day.

The iconic Dark Hedges beech tree tunnel near Armoy in County Antrim with intertwined branches forming a brooding canopyThe Dark Hedges, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Long exposure of Pan's Rock with its footbridge at dawn on the Antrim Causeway Coast, silky water and blurred clouds, Rathlin Island on the horizonPan's Rock, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunrise over Colliery Bay with Fair Head cliffs and mountains, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxColliery Bay & Fair Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Dunluce Castle on coastal cliffs with long exposure sea, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDunluce Castle, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Black and white photograph of a rainstorm sweeping across the Skerries islands off the North Antrim coast near PortrushRainstorm, the Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunset over Bengore Head with waves rolling over rocks, Co. Antrim, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBengore Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunset over the Skerries coast in County Antrim with warm light reflecting on wet sand and rock formationsThe Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim

All Antrim prints

Notable bearers

John Adams (1735-1826), writer, politician, and lawyer.

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), writer, politician, and lawyer.

Amy Adams (born 1974), actor, singer, and musician.

Bryan Adams (born 1959), actor, singer, and musician.

Abigail Adams (1744-1818), writer and politician.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson

How common the name was

In 1890, 77 births were registered under Adams in Ireland, most of them in Antrim and Londonderry.

Ulster 62
Leinster 6
Munster 5
Connacht 4
Ireland 77

Londonderry is the one I haven't worked in.