From Ó hAodha (or Mac Aodha), ‘descendant of Aodh’, fire — one of Gaelic Ireland's most common personal names, taken up independently by septs the length of the country.
Gaelic Origin · Root name Aodh, ‘fire’
Hughes anglicises Ó hAodha or Mac Aodha, both built on Aodh, a personal name meaning ‘fire’ and among the most popular names in early Gaelic Ireland — the same root behind Hayes. Because so many unrelated families carried a father or founder named Aodh, distinct Ó hAodha septs sprang up independently across several counties rather than descending from one line.
A name that spread not through one family's rise but through how many separate families all happened to answer to fire.
Irish form: Ó hAodha
