Contents [hide]

Cahill History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables World Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Motto Suggested Reading Sources

Cahill History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Etymology of Cahill

What does the name Cahill mean?

The original Gaelic form of Cahill was Mac Cathail or Ó Cathail, while is derived from the personal name Cathal, which is generally Anglicized as Charles. Cahill is derived from the Old Irish "catu-ualos" which means "valor or powerful in battle". 1

Early Origins of the Cahill family

The surname Cahill was first found in County Kerry and Tipperary as there are at least two distinct septs of the name. The first sept from County Kerry descend from the Heremon line of kings and were known as the Cahills of Connaught. The second sept claim descent from the Ir line of kings and were located at Corkashinny, or the parish of Templemore, Tipperary. This line further branched to the eponymous Ballycahill, Tipperary. Both branches descended from O'Connors, the Kings of Connacht, specifically "Cathal," also known as Conor na Luinge Luaithe, when anglicized means "Conor, the Swifter-Sailing Ship" 2 which may elude to the seafaring coat of arms used by the family.

Early History of the Cahill family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cahill research. Another 138 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1654, 1796 and 1864 are included under the topic Early Cahill History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cahill Spelling Variations

The recording of names in Ireland in the Middle Ages was an inconsistent endeavor at best. The many regional dialects and the predominate illiteracy would have made common surnames appear unrelated to the scribes of the period. Research into the name Cahill revealed spelling variations, including Cahill, O'Cahill, Kahill, Cawhill, Cahille, Cahil, Cahaly, Cahell, Cahel, Caughell, Kahil, Kahel, Caill, Cail and many more.

Early Notables of the Cahill family

Notable among the family name at this time was

Flan O'Cahill, martyred in 938
Daniel O'Cahill, brother of Bogh O'Cahill, chief of the Clan, forfeited under the Cromwellian settlement, his castle and the lands of Ballycahill having to move to Ballyglass, County Mayo in 1654

Cahill World Ranking

In the United States, the name Cahill is the 1,673^rd most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 3 However, in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Cahill is ranked the 412^nd most popular surname with an estimated 114 people with that name. 4 And in Australia, the name Cahill is the 574^th popular surname with an estimated 6,724 people with that name. 5

Cahill migration to the United States +

In the late 18th century, Irish families began emigrating to North America in the search of a plot of land to call their own. This pattern of emigration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s cause thousands of Irish to flee the death and disease that accompanied the disaster. Those that made it alive to the shores of the United States and British North America (later to become Canada) were, however, instrumental in the development of those two powerful nations. Many of these Irish immigrants proudly bore the name of Cahill:

Cahill Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Elizabeth Cahill, a bonded passenger, who arrived in America in 1735
Thomas Cahill, an "enforced emigrant" sent to America from Ireland in 1737
Henrick Cahill, aged 19, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1738 6
Daniel Cahill, who arrived at Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1768
John Cahill, who settled in Maryland in 1774

Cahill Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Petrick Cahill, who landed in America in 1807 6
Peary Cahill, who arrived in South Carolina in 1821 6
Miss Alice Cahill, aged 24, Irish settler who arrived in New Orleans aboard the ship "John Cummins" on 26th April 1842
Mr. Michael Cahill, aged 25, Irish miller who arrived in New Orleans aboard the ship "John Cummins" on 26th April 1842
Eliza Cahill, who landed in New York in 1842 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cahill migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Cahill Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

John Cahill, who settled in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1763 7
Edward Cahill, who settled in Freshwater, Newfoundland in 1791 7
Patrick Cahill, who settled in Musketta, Newfoundland in 1795 7

Cahill Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

John Cahill, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1818
Elizabeth Cahill, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1830
Margaret Cahill, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1831
John Cahill, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1835
Elizabeth Cahill, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1837
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cahill migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Cahill Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Cahill, British Convict who was convicted in London, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 4th December 1803, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Miss Mary Cahill, British Convict who was convicted in London, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Experiment" on 4th December 1803, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Mr. Denis Cahill, (b. 1797), aged 25, Irish shoe maker who was convicted in County Kerry, Ireland for life, transported aboard the "Brampton" on 8th November 1822, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 9
Patrick Cahill Mr. settled in New South Wales, Australia in 1823 10
Mr. Michael Cahill, (b. 1817), aged 21, Irish labourer who was convicted in Kilkenny, Ireland for 14 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 29th December 1838, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cahill migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Cahill Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Thomas Cahill, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "George Canning" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 28th November 1857 12
Mr. James Cahill, Scottish settler travelling from Clyde aboard the ship "Robert Henderson" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 5th October 1861 13
Mrs. Cahill, Scottish settler travelling from Clyde aboard the ship "Robert Henderson" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 5th October 1861 13
Mr. Cahill, Scottish settler travelling from Clyde aboard the ship "Robert Henderson" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 5th October 1861 13
Timothy Cahill, aged 21, a farm labourer, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Jessie Osborne" in 1867
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Cahill (post 1700) +

Thomas Quinn Cahill (1940-2022), American scholar and writer, best known for The Hinges of History series
Dennis Cahill (1954-2022), American guitarist who specialized in Irish traditional music, born in Chicago of parents from County Kerry, Ireland
Francis P. "Windy" Cahill (d. 1877), American blacksmith in Bonita, Arizona who reportedly bullied Henry McCarty (Billy the Kid); Billy killed him in a fight at a saloon on August 17, 1877
Leo Cahill (1928-2018), American football coach from Utica, Illinois, head coach and general manager in the Canadian Football League, known for his time with the Toronto Argonauts, inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2013
James Francis Cahill (1926-2014), American art historian, curator, collector, and professor at the University of California, Berkeley
William T Cahill (1912-1996), Republican Governor of New Jersey, 1970-73
Thaddeus Cahill (1867-1934), American inventor of the teleharmonium, the first electromechanical musical instrument
Sarah Cahill (b. 1978), American beauty queen
Erin Cahill (b. 1980), American actress
Eddie Cahill (b. 1978), American actor
... (Another 10 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Cahill family +

HMS Repulse

Mr. William T Cahill, British Leading Seaman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and survived the sinking 14

The Cahill Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: In Domino confido
Motto Translation: I trust in the Lord.

Sources +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees 5th Edition in 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 22nd March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel-and-experiment
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 29th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/Brampton
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 14th September 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-st-vincent
Convict Records Australia. Retrieved on 18th March 2022 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html