Harmon
An Irish surname of Wicklow. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 74,737 people, the 438th most common surname in the country.
Harmon is the anglicised form of three distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.
Hearman, son of Hereman (a Teutonic personal name)
Mac Giolla Deacair, son of Giolla deacair (hard youth). This family stood in Co. Roscommon.
Ó Hargadáin
Where the name comes from
Hearman is son of Hereman, a Teutonic personal name, and the surname came into Ireland in the 13th or early 14th century. Harman, Harmon, Hardman and Herdman are all the one word.
Mac Giolla Deacair, son of the hard youth, was peculiar to Co. Roscommon in the 16th century and reaches Harman by a different road. And Ó hArgadáin, descendant of the little silver one, from airgead, silver and so white or shining, is a Connacht surname now often but incorrectly anglicised Hardiman and Harman.
Wicklow, photographed
Photographs made in Wicklow.
Wicklow
The Wicklow Mountains are granite and start about 20 km from the centre of Dublin. Glendalough is a glacial valley with two lakes and a monastic site founded in the sixth century, including a round tower. Brittas Bay is about five kilometres of sand.
Brittas Bay & Mizen Head, Co. Wicklow
Co. Wicklow
Dawn, Lough Tay, Co. Wicklow
Co. Wicklow
Wicklow Mountains
Co. Wicklow
Notable bearers
Mark Harmon (born 1951), actor, film producer, and director.
Angie Harmon (born 1972), actor.
Richard Harmon (born 1991), actor.
Dan Harmon (born 1973), actor, writer, and screenwriter.
Judson Harmon (1846-1927), politician, lawyer, and jurist.
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, 12 births were registered under Harmon in Ireland, most of them in Wicklow.
| Leinster | 8 | 67% |
|---|---|---|
| Munster | 2 | 17% |
| Ulster | 2 | 17% |
| Connacht | 0 | 0% |
| Ireland | 12 |