Hughes (surname)

Wales

In Wales and other areas of Brythonic Britain, the name derives from the personal name "Hu" or "Huw", meaning "fire" or "inspiration". At the time of the British Census of 1881, the relative frequency of the surname Hughes was highest on the Welsh island of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) (37.2 times the British average), followed by Gwynedd, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Meirionydd, Montgomeryshire, Ceredigion, Radnorshire and Carmarthenshire,

Ireland

The surname evolved from the ancient Irish name of Ó hAodha, "grandson/descendant of Aodh (meaning "fire")." Aodh was frequently Anglicized as Hugh, with Ó hAodha in turn being anglicized as Hughes or Hayes. Hughes is the 15th most common name in the northern Irish province of Ulster, being especially common in the Ulster counties Armagh, Tyrone, Monaghan, and Fermanagh. It was the 34th most common name in Matheson's 1890 census of Ireland and the 44th most common surname in Ireland in the 1992–1997 period. In addition to the counties of Ulster, the surname Hughes is also commonly found in the counties Wexford, Donegal, Galway and Cork. There are variant spellings.

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