The carey Surname
carey Name Meaning and History
- Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ciardha, a midland family name meaning ‘descendant of Ciardha’, a personal name derived from ciar ‘dark’, ‘black’.
- Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Fhiachra ‘son of Fiachra’.
- English: habitational name from Carey in Devon or Cary in Somerset, named for the rivers on which they stand; both river names probably derive from the Celtic root car- ‘love’, ‘liking’, perhaps with the meaning ‘pleasant stream’.
- English (of Norman origin): habitational name from the manor of Carrey, near Lisieux, Normandy, France, of uncertain origin.
- Welsh and Cornish: variant of Carew.
- Possibly an Americanized form of German Gehrig or Gehring.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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