Reid

An Irish surname of Antrim and Dublin. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 111,360 people, the 275th most common surname in the country.

Reid is the anglicised form of four distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.

Giolcach, the red

Ó Maoilbhríghde, descendant of Maolbhríghde (servant of St. Brigid). This family stood in Co. Roscommon.

Ó Maoildeirg, descendant of Maoldearg (the red chief). This family stood in Co. Donegal and Co. Mayo.

Réid

Where the name comes from

Réid is the Norman le Rede: the red, from the complexion of the face or hair. It came about the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. It is sometimes incorrectly turned into Giolcach, which is a mistranslation of the English name.

Ó Maoilbhríghde, descendant of Maolbhríghde, the servant of St. Brigid, is a much older thing wearing the same coat. That family of Ui Maine were chiefs of Magh Finn, or Bredach, in the barony (an old land division, several parishes across) of Athlone, Co. Roscommon, until the MacKeoghs dispossessed them many centuries ago and they dispersed through the neighbouring districts of Connacht and Leinster. St. Brigid was patroness of the family and Bredach was dedicated to her.

Ó Maoildeirg, descendant of Maoldearg, the red chief, is an old surname in Donegal from where it spread into Mayo, where it is strangely anglicised Reddington and Ruthledge. Reid, for Red, is the translation.

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 Reid 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 Dunluce Castle on coastal cliffs with long exposure sea, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDunluce Castle, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Black and white photograph of a rainstorm sweeping across the Skerries islands off the North Antrim coast near PortrushRainstorm, the Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunset over Bengore Head with waves rolling over rocks, Co. Antrim, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBengore Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunset over the Skerries coast in County Antrim with warm light reflecting on wet sand and rock formationsThe Skerries, 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

All Antrim prints · All Dublin prints

Notable bearers

Tara Reid (born 1975), actor and Playboy Playmate.

Thomas Mayne Reid (1818-1883), writer and novelist.

Harry Reid (1939-2021), politician, lawyer, and city attorney.

Winston Reid (born 1988), association football player.

Riley Reid (born 1991), pornographic film actor, pornographic film director, and pornographic film producer.

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, 206 births were registered under Reid in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Armagh, Down, Dublin, and Tyrone.

Ulster 137
Leinster 50
Munster 13
Connacht 6
Ireland 206

Armagh, Down, and Tyrone are the ones I haven't worked in.