Noctor — Son of Conchobhar

Noctor is a worn-down form of Mac Conchobhair, ‘son of Conchobhar’, the same Irish original that elsewhere gave Connor and MacNaughter. The intermediate spellings survive in the record — Naughter, Nogher, Nocter — showing the name being shortened in stages. It is genuinely rare, and concentrated in Wicklow and Wexford.

A common Irish name that took an uncommon road, and ended up belonging to one small corner of Leinster.

Irish form: Mac Conchobhair