Garrity
/ˈɡærəti/noun
Garrity is an Irish surname, commonly understood as an anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Garachtaigh or a related family name.
Did you know?Garrity belongs to the vast tradition of Irish patronymic surnames, where Ó originally meant “grandson” or “descendant of,” turning ancestry itself into a permanent name-marker.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Celtic (reconstructed)
Proto-Celtic
*garwos
“Rough, harsh, or rugged; a proposed ancestral root associated with later Celtic forms.”
Early Medieval Irish
Old Irish
garb
“Rough, coarse, harsh, or rugged.”
Medieval Irish
Middle Irish
Garachtach
“A personal name probably associated with roughness or rugged character.”
Medieval Ireland
Irish Gaelic
Ó Garachtaigh
“Descendant of Garachtach.”
16th–19th Century
Anglicized Irish
Garrity
“An English spelling adopted for an Irish Gaelic family name.”
Modern English
English
Garrity
“An Irish surname, with numerous spelling variants including Geraghty and Garaghty.”