Hawkins

An Irish surname of Antrim, Cork, and Galway. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 139,751 people, the 200th most common surname in the country.

Hawkins 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.

Háicín, son of Halkin

Ó Heachaidhín, descendant of Eachaidhín (diminutive of Eachaidh)

Ó Heacháin, descendant of Eachán (diminutive of Eachaidh). This family stood in Co. Tyrone.

Where the name comes from

Háicín is son of Halkin, a diminutive of Harry.

The other road to Hawkins is Ó hEacháin, descendant of a little Eachaidh: an Ulidian family still well known in Down and Tyrone, written O Heaghane, O Haghaine and Haughan before Hawkins and Haughton took over. Ó hEachaidhín is the same name again.

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

The Hawkins counties, photographed

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

Cork

Cork is the largest county in Ireland. Three peninsulas run west into the Atlantic: Beara, Sheep's Head and Mizen, with the population thinning the further out you go. My gallery is in Glengarriff at the head of Bantry Bay, so it's the ground I photograph most.

Rugged Atlantic coastline at Allihies, Cork, Ireland, with layered slate cliffs, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxAllihies Coast, Cork Co. Cork Sunset over Dun an Oir ruins and sea stacks on Cape Clear Island, Cork, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún an Óir, Cape Clear Island, Cork Co. Cork The Fastnet Lighthouse standing proud on a calm summer evening off West Cork in black and white panoramic viewThe Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork Aerial view of the Fastnet Lighthouse surrounded by angry seas off West Cork with Cape Clear Island on the horizonThe Fastnet from the Air Co. Cork

Galway

Connemara takes up the west of the county: the Twelve Bens, blanket bog, and fields walled off into very small squares. The Aran Islands sit at the mouth of Galway Bay. The Gaeltacht starts a few miles west of Galway city.

Enormous waves sending spray over 30-metre sea cliffs at Poll an tSeidein on Inis Meain, Aran Islands at sunsetPoll an tSéideáin, Inis Meáin, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway The rusting Plassey shipwreck on Inis Oirr, Aran Islands, seen from above with the Atlantic Ocean beyondThe Plassey, Inis Oirr, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway Dramatic storm waves battering tall cliffs at sunset on the west coast of Inis Meain, Aran IslandsPoll an tSéideáin Panoramic, Inis Meáin, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway Turf drying at sunset with Connemara mountains in the background, Co. Galway, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxConnemara Turf, Co. Galway Co. Galway

All Antrim prints · All Cork prints · All Galway prints

Notable bearers

Sally Hawkins (born 1976), actor and screenwriter.

Taylor Hawkins (1972-2022), singer, musician, and songwriter.

Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969), musician, composer, and saxophonist.

Paula Hawkins (born 1972), writer, journalist, and novelist.

John Hawkins (1532-1595), politician, businessperson, and sailor.

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, 18 births were registered under Hawkins in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Cork, and Galway.

Ulster 6
Leinster 5
Connacht 4
Munster 3
Ireland 18