Hardy
An Irish surname of Dublin. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 80,252 people, the 399th most common surname in the country.
Mac Giolla Deacair, son of Giolla deacair (hard youth). This family stood in Co. Roscommon.
Where the name comes from
Mac Giolla Deacair is son of the hard youth. In the 16th century it was peculiar to Co. Roscommon, and it comes down as MacDacker, Harden, Hardy, Harman and Harmon.
Dublin, photographed
Photographs made in Dublin.
Dublin
Dublin is a county as well as a city. The bay has Howth at the north end and Killiney Hill at the south, the Muglins are a pair of rocks off Dalkey, and the Dublin Mountains start about half an hour from the city centre.
Notable bearers
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), writer, screenwriter, and novelist.
Tom Hardy (born 1977), actor, screenwriter, and film producer.
G.H. Hardy (1877-1947), university teacher and mathematician.
Françoise Hardy (1944-2024), actor, writer, and singer.
Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), actor, writer, and singer.
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: Williams · Davis · Edwards · Cooper · Kelly · Cox · Brooks · Wood · James · Price · Butler · Jordan
How common the name was
In 1890, 19 births were registered under Hardy in Ireland, most of them in Dublin, Louth, and Tyrone.
| Leinster | 9 | 47% |
|---|---|---|
| Ulster | 8 | 42% |
| Munster | 1 | 5% |
| Connacht | no figure printed | |
| Ireland | 19 |
Louth and Tyrone are the ones I haven't worked in.