Beggs (Irish: Ó Beig[1]) is a Gaelic surname, which originated in Scotland. It is derived from the Gaelic word beag, which means little, although some instances of the name derive from the English name 'Bigg'.[2] As a result of migration Beggs live in Ireland, Scotland, England, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It was first found in Inverness-shire, where they held a family seat from ancient times. Spelling variants include Begg, Begge or Beg[3][4] The name is rare and its bearers primarily reside in Northern Ireland.[5]
In 1890 an estimated 1340 bore the name, primarily in County Antrim and County Dublin.[6] In the 1980s half of its bearers in Ireland were located in County Antrim and in the mid-1800s it was almost exclusively contained to the barony of Antrim Upper.[7]
^O'Laughlin, Michael C. (1999). The Families of County Dublin, Ireland Over Four Thousand Entries from the Archives of the Irish Genealogical Foundation. p. 63.
^Neafsey, Edward (2002). The Surnames of Ireland Origins and Numbers of Selected Irish Surnames. Irish Genealogical Foundation. p. 8.
^Quinn, Sean E. (2000). Surnames in Ireland. Irish Genealogy Press. p. 42.
^Bell, Robert (1988). The Book of Ulster Surnames. Blackstaff Press. p. 15.
Surname list
This page lists people with the surnameBeggs. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.