Hello,

My name's Ruben D'haeyere, I live in Belgium. Recently my father told me that my surname's Irish, but he didn't know what it meant. So I wonder, what does it mean? And how would you write it in Irish Gaelic. It's pronounced as DIE-YER-UH.

Thanks in advance!

Sorry to dissapointed you but it is not Irish, unless someone along the way has trying to make it sound Flemish or French (Don't know which side your on!) but it doesn't resemble any Irish name I've seen, sorry!

The spelling and pronunciation are definitely not Irish, but names can often change when they come into contact with another language. It does look something like the name Ó Duibhir (O'Dwyer or Dwyer in English). Ask your father if those names mean anything to him.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Could it be a corrupton of "de Éire" ( de-aye-re) i.e from Ireland or Irish? along the line of John Scotus Erigena.

I've posted a video on youtube with the pronunciation, it's more accurate that way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ULQhoKa ... e=youtu.be


These names don't mean anything to him, it was another D'haeyere that told him that it was Irish. He said it meant tower of strength.


I live in the dutch-speaking part.


Possibly, it sounds a bit like it.

Irish names are typically patronymics...they translate to "son" (mac) or "descendent" (ó) followed by the possessive form of an individual's name or nickname. I can't think of an instance in which an Irish name would come out to mean "tower of strength." My guess is whoever told your father that was leading him on, or just guessing.

If the name is of Irish origin, it was most likely originally Ó Duibhir ("descendent of some named "Duibhir") or, as Brian suggested, a corruption of "D'Éire" (of Ireland)...though in the latter case I'd expect it to have been "D'Éirinn."

Edited to add that the "Mac" or "Ó" often gets dropped when Irish surnames are adopted into another language. As Mick noted, "Ó Duibhir" is often rendered as "Dwyer" in English (I've also seen "Dyer"), so if your name IS of Irish origin, I'm guessing that "Ó Duibhir" is the original form.

Redwolf

What's the difference between Éire and Éirinn then?

Éirinn is the dative case of Éire (although sometimes used as the nominative in some parts.

My opinion is that your name doesn't appear anything like Irish at all - not 1% like an Irish name. You could take many a foreign name and imagine similarities with Irish - with this one it takes a serious stretch of the imagination. The speculation could go on and on as it has with similar requests in the past, but I think it is a fruitless exercise.

Except that there were several waves of Irish exiles, such as the Flight of the Earls and the Wild Geese, where Irish people settled in continental Europe and reestablished themselves. Hennessey of Cognac fame is one example.

Sometimes, as happened in America and Australia, the Irish changed their names to spellings that locals would pronounce similarly to the original rather than have them mince the Irish spellings.


RubenDHA, what you need to do is try to trace your lineage back using documentation until you find a record of someone, possibly with an Irish first name, marrying into the family suddenly from abroad (basically someone with no birth record in your country).

Did the D'haeyeres ever own land in the past? Perhaps there might be a record of a land purchase in the old name before it was changed to local spelling?

Another avenue might be to look for records of Dyer, or Dwyer, or O'Dyer, or Mac Dyer, or even D'Éire through museums such as the Wild Geese Heritage Museum and Library, Portumna, Co. Galway, Ireland (http://indigo.ie/~wildgees/index.htm)

You will find a lot of what your relatives tell you is just myth to embellishment, but there are often gems of truth contained in their stories. Many leads may prove fruitless, but then some dots may start to connect and you may find yourself on a journey into real history.

For more hints as to the possible anglicizations search for "Duibhir" on this page:

http://www.irishidentity.com/names/d.htm

You'll see there are quite a few.

Perhaps someone else can fill us in on Dwyer, Dyer, etc., from MacLysaght?

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

I bought a secondhand book titled 'Celtic names'. This is what the book says about the name 'Dáire'.

Dáire, Darry, Dary (pronounced like 'daw + ir + ih')
Dáire was a Gaelic god, whose name Dáire means 'fruitful'.

Could this name be related to my surname?