Jordan

An Irish surname of Antrim, Dublin, Galway, and Mayo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 208,403 people, the 116th most common surname in the country.

Jordan 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 Shiúrtáin. This family stood in Co. Mayo.

Siúrdán, Siúrtán, son of Jordan. This family stood in Co. Dublin, Co. Limerick, and Co. Meath.

Where the name comes from

Jordan is a souvenir. The personal name comes from the river Jordan and became popular in crusading times throughout Western Europe, nowhere more than in England, because flasks of Jordan water were brought home to be used for baptismal purposes.

The Jordans were an Anglo-Norman family who settled early in Dublin, Meath and Limerick. Jordan of Hilton was one of the chief gentlemen of Dublin at the end of the 16th century, and three of the name were mayors of Limerick at the same period.

Mac Shiúrtáin is a separate surname taken up by the descendants of Jordan D'Exeter, an Anglo-Norman family who settled in Co. Mayo and who by 1571 were described as very wild Irish.

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 Jordan 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

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.

Moonlight reflecting on the sea near the Muglins lighthouse off Dalkey Island, Dublin, with the Kish light on the horizonThe Muglins by Moonlight II Co. Dublin Long exposure panoramic view of the White Rock swimming platform at Killiney Bay, Dublin, floating in misty high-tide watersThe White Rock, Killiney Bay, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin Heron fishing at dawn on the Dublin coast — fine art wildlife photograph by Peter CoxHeron, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin

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

Mayo

Achill is the largest island off the Irish coast and is joined to the mainland by a bridge. Clew Bay is full of drumlins that were drowned when the sea rose, which is where the story about an island for every day of the year comes from. Croagh Patrick stands over the south side of the bay. Mayo's population is still less than half what it was before the Famine.

Black and white view across Doo Lough towards Ben Gorm and mountains, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDoo Lough, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Black and white view of Dun Briste sea stack from a sea cave, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún Briste from the Cave Co. Mayo Black and white lone tree standing in bogland with the Partry Mountains behind, County MayoLone Tree, Partry Mountains, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo

All Antrim prints · All Dublin prints · All Galway prints · All Mayo prints

Notable bearers

Michael Jordan (born 1963), basketball player, autobiographer, and entrepreneur.

Michael B. Jordan (born 1987), actor, film director, and film producer.

Camille Jordan (1838-1922), university teacher, engineer, and mathematician.

Robert Jordan (1948-2007), writer, novelist, and military officer.

Eddie Jordan (1948-2025), writer, journalist, and businessperson.

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 · Cole

How common the name was

In 1890, 98 births were registered under Jordan in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Dublin, Galway, and Mayo.

Leinster 36
Connacht 31
Ulster 21
Munster 10
Ireland 98