King

An Irish surname of Antrim, Dublin, Galway, and Mayo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 465,422 people, the 34th most common surname in the country.

King 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.

Mac Conriain

Ó Cingeadh, descendant of Cingeadh (valiant). This family stood in Co. Galway, Co. Offaly, and Co. Westmeath.

Ó Cionga

Where the name comes from

King is usually a wrong guess. Mac Conriain is son of Cú-Riain, Rian's hound, and it is sometimes translated King on the erroneous supposition that it comes from rígh, a king. It is extremely rare.

The honest one is Ó Cingeadh, descendant of Cingeadh, the valiant. That surname belonged chiefly to Westmeath, Offaly, Galway and Clare.

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 King 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

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), writer, politician, and opinion journalist.

Stephen King (born 1947), actor, writer, and screenwriter.

Larry King (1933-2021), actor, writer, and journalist.

Billie Jean King (born 1943), writer, tennis player, and athlete.

Joey King (born 1999), actor and singer.

This name is borne widely in Britain as well as Ireland. What follows is where it was found in Ireland, not a claim that every family carrying it came from here.

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: Reynolds · Ford · Hunt · Hart · Burke · Banks · May · Hopkins · Leonard · Moran · Thornton · Higgins

How common the name was

In 1890, 203 births were registered under King in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, and Mayo.

Connacht 62
Ulster 61
Munster 47
Leinster 43
Ireland 203

Limerick is the one I haven't worked in.