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"happy spear" or "ford at the oaks" England, Scotland, Ulster Edgar, Agar, Eager, O'Daire, MacDaire |
Adair is a surname derived from the Old English personal name Eadgar (Edgar). In Ireland the surname is almost exclusive to Ulster and particularly to counties Antrim and Down. Here they are of Scottish origin where the surname is most common in Galloway. Many of the Galloway Adairs settled in Ulster during and after the Plantation. A few of the name in Ireland may be of the family name Ó Dáire.
There is another theory that "In about 1380, Robert Fitzgerald owned lands around Adare in Ireland. There he fought a family duel with Gerald, the white knight, a distant cousin. Although Robert Fitzgerald's father was the Earl of Desmond, the Fitzgeralds did not see Robert as a nobleman. It was unacceptable for him to kill a knight. A powerful group was against Robert. Robert became a fugitive, relocating to Wigtownshire in south western Scotland. To cover his tracks, Robert took as his surname 'Adare' after the town near his lands back in Ireland. Upon arriving in Scotland, Robert learned that the King of Scotland had placed a bounty on the head of a man named 'Currie'. Currie was outlawed as a thief and pirate. The King promised Currie's castle, deemed nearly impregnable, to whoever would bring him the head of Currie. Robert Adare watched over Dunskey castle for several days until Currie came out one evening. Robert followed Currie, and engaged the pirate in mortal combat, slewing him at the head of Colfin Glen. Robert took Currie's severed head to the court of Scotland," which explains the Adair crest of a severed head.
Al Adair (1929–1996), Canadian baseball player, radio broadcaster, author, politician
Alex Adair, British DJ, producer and remixer
Allan Henry Shafto Adair (1897–1988), British army officer, 6th Baronet
Archibald Adair (died 1647), Irish Anglican bishop
Beegie Adair (born 1937), jazz pianist
Bethenia Angelina Owens-Adair (1840-1926), American social reformer, physician
Bill Adair (1913–2002), baseball player/manager
Bill Adair (journalist), founder of the PolitiFact website
Billy Adair, Soccer player in the American Soccer League
Bonnie Adair, American swimmer/coach
Bunny Adair (1905-1994), Australian politician
Catherine Steiner-Adair, Psychologist and author
Cecil Adair, pen name of author Evelyn Everett-Green
Charles Adair (footballer), American soccer player/coach
Charles F. Adair Hore, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Pensions
Charles Henry Adair (1851-1920), British admiral
Charles L. Adair (1902-1993) American admiral
Charles Wallace Adair (1914–2006), U.S. ambassador
Sir Charles William Adair (1822-1897), General in the Royal Marines
Cherry Adair, American author
Christia V. Daniels Adair (1893-1989), African-American suffragist and civil rights worker
Cornelia Adair (1837–1921), matriarch of Glenveagh Castle in County Donegal, Ireland
Craig Adair, New Zealand track cyclist
Daniel Adair (born 1975), Canadian drummer
Deb Adair (born 1966), Emmy award winning sound engineer
Deborah Adair (born 1952), American actress
Donald Adair (born 1960), American figure skater
Doug Adair (born 1929), U.S. TV news anchor and journalist
Douglass Adair (1912–1968), American historian
E. Ross Adair (1907–1983), U.S. Representative from Indiana
Eleanor R. Adair (1926-2013), American scientist
Forrest Adair (1865–1936), real estate developer
George Adair (1823–1899), real estate developer
George W. Adair Jr. (1874-1921), real estate developer
Gilbert Adair (born 1944), author and journalist
Gilbert Smithson Adair (1896–1979), British scientist
Green B. Adair (1840-1914), cotton merchant
Hazel Adair (1920–2015), British soap opera writer, film producer/director
Hubert Adair (1917-1940), World War II Royal Air Force pilot
Hugh Edward Adair, 3rd Baronet (1815–1902), British Liberal Party politician
J. Leroy Adair (1887–1956), U.S. Representative from Illinois
James Adair (historian) (1709–1783), explorer and author
James Adair (serjeant) (died 1798), Irish soldier, politician
James Makittrick Adair (1728–1802), Scottish army officer, doctor
Janet Adair (1901–2005), American Actress
Janice Adair (1905–1996), British actress
Jean Adair (1873–1953), Actress
Jerry Adair (1936–1987), American baseball player
Jessica Adair (born 1986), American basketball player
Jim Adair (born 1942), Canadian hockey player
Jimmy Adair (1907–1982), American baseball player, manager and coach
John A. M. Adair (1864–1938), U.S. Representative from Indiana
John Adair (1757–1840), American soldier, politician (Kentucky)
John Adair (anthropologist) (1913–1997), Professor of Anthropology
John Adair (author) (born 1934), UK leadership expert
John Adair (cricketer) (1852-1913), Irish physicist and cricketer
John Adair (surveyor) (c. 1655-1722), Scottish surveyor and mapmaker
John George Adair (1823–1885), Scots-Irish businessman and landowner
John Ronald Shafto Adair, Australian businessman and aviator
Johnny Adair (born 1963), Ex-Loyalist Paramilitary
Joseph Adair (1877–1960), Canadian politician
Mark Adair (born 1996), Irish cricketer
Molly Adair (1905-1990), British actress
Nancy Adair, documentary producer
Natasha Adair (born 1972), women's college basketball coach
Neil Adair, Green Party web designer
Patrick Adair (1624–1694), minister
Perry Adair (1899-1953), American amateur golfer
Peter Adair (1943–1996), film-maker and artist
Red Adair (1915–2004), oil field fire-fighter
Rhona Adair (1878–1961), British golf champion
Rick Adair (born 1958), American baseball player, coach
Robert Adair (actor) (1900-1954), American-born British actor
Robert Adair (cricketer) (1876–1951), Irish cricketer
Robert Adair (physicist), Physics professor
Robert Adair (politician) (1763–1855), English diplomat
Robert Adair, 1st Baron Waveney (1811-1886), British politician
Ron Adair (born 1931), Australian former association footballer
Sandra Adair (born 1952), American film editor
Tatum Adair, American Actress
Thelma C. Davidson Adair (born 1920), Presbyterian educator, guest speaker educator, and activist
Thomas Benjamin Stratton Adair (1868–1928), Scottish politician
Tom Adair (1913–1988), American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter
Trevor Adair, Soccer coach
Virginia Hamilton Adair (1913–2004), American poet
William Penn Adair (c. 1828-1880), second chief of the Cherokee nation, and the person for whom Will Rogers was named
Sir William Thompson Adair (1850-1931), Royal Marine officer and Ulster Unionist
Daisy Adair, fictional TV character
Helen Adair, main character in Comin' Thro the Rye (1923 film)
Michael Adair, main character in The Conversations at Curlow Creek
Rachel Adair, fictional character on General Hospital
Adair (Trainz), one of several drivers on Trainz Simulator
Finnick Odair, from Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy
Adair Blain (1894–1983), Australian politician
Adair Cardoso (born 1993), Brazilian singer and composer
Adair Crawford (1748–1795), Scots-Irish chemist
Adair Dyer, Attorney, international law
Adair Tishler (born 1996), American child Actress
Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell (born 1955), British businessman
Adair (name) Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA