Beggs (surname)

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]

## People[edit]

* Bobby Beggs, Irish gaelic footballer
* Charles A. Beggs (1869–1939), American politician
* Gail Beggs, Canadian government official
* Jacqueline Beggs (born 1962), New Zealand entomologist and ecologist
* James M. Beggs (1926–2020), former American NASA administrator
* Joe Beggs (1910–1983), American baseball player
* John I. Beggs (1847–1925), American entrepreneur, former director of General Electric
* Lyall T. Beggs (1899–1973), American politician
* Nick Beggs (born 1961), British musician, member of Kajagoogoo
* Pam Beggs (born 1947), Australian politician
* Richard Beggs, sound designer and Academy Award winner
* Roy Beggs (born 1936), Northern Ireland politician
* Roy Beggs Jr (born 1962), Northern Ireland politician, son of Roy Beggs
* Alabama Beggs, fictional lead character in Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald

## See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beggs (surname).

* Barbara Cass-Beggs (1904–1990), Canadian folk song collector, singer and teacher
* Beggs (disambiguation)
* Begg

## References[edit]

1. ^ "beggs". sloinne.ie.
2. ^ 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.
3. ^ Last name: Beggs The Internet Surname Database
4. ^ Beggs Surname, Family Crest and Coat of Arms HouseOfNames.com
5. ^ Neafsey, Edward (2002). The Surnames of Ireland Origins and Numbers of Selected Irish Surnames. Irish Genealogical Foundation. p. 8.
6. ^ Quinn, Sean E. (2000). Surnames in Ireland. Irish Genealogy Press. p. 42.
7. ^ Bell, Robert (1988). The Book of Ulster Surnames. Blackstaff Press. p. 15.

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Beggs.
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.