Show ContentsHegerty History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Hegerty

What does the name Hegerty mean?

The spelling and overall form of Irish names tend to vary widely over time. The original Gaelic form of the name Hegerty is "O hEigceartaigh," which is derived from the word "eigceartach," which means "unjust."

Early Origins of the Hegerty family

The surname Hegerty was first found in County Londonderry (Irish: Doire), a Northern Irish county also known as Derry, in the province of Ulster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Hegerty family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hegerty research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1715 and 1721 are included under the topic Early Hegerty History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hegerty Spelling Variations

Within archives, many different spelling variations exist for the surname Hegerty. Ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in the name of the single person being recorded under several different spellings. Different spellings that were found include Hegarty, Hegerty, Heggarty, O'Hegarty and others.

Early Notables of the Hegerty family

Notable among the family name at this time was Lt.Col. Hegarty, Lally's Regiment who for his efforts was acknowledged by King Louis XV of France; Peter O'Hegarty, Governor of the Isle...
Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hegerty Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


Hegerty migration to the United States +

In the 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of thousands of Irish people immigrated to North American shores. The early settlers were enticed by the promise of their own land, but they were moderately well off in Ireland when they decided to emigrate. Therefore, they were merely carrying out a long and carefully thought out decision. The 1840s saw the emergence of a very different trend: thousands of extremely desperate people crammed into passenger boats hoping to find any type of opportunity. The Irish of this decade had seen their homeland severely stricken by crop failures which resulted in widespread disease and starvation. At whatever time the Irish immigrants came to North America, they were instrumental in the rapid development of the emerging nations of the United States and what would become known as Canada. An exhaustive search of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many persons bearing the name Hegerty, or one of its variants:

Hegerty Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Thomas Hegerty, aged 21, who arrived in New York, NY in 1834 1


The Hegerty 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: Nec flectitur nec mutant
Motto Translation: They neither bend nor change.


  1. 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)


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