SÉAMUS

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

SÉAMUS, genitive -uis, Shemus, James; Hebrew — Yākōb, literally one who takes by the heel (Gen. XXV. 25, XXVII, 36), from yekeb, a heel, hence to trip up, defraud, supplant by subtlety; the name of the Jewish patriarch (Jacob) and of two of the Twelve Apostles; common among the Anglo-Norman settlers, and ever growing in popularity. It is in honour of St. James the Greater that the name is used in Ireland, as in Europe generally. The anglicised form James is derived from the Spanish Jayme. Latin — Jacobus.

Alphabetical Index to Names of Men (Irish-English)

Explanatory Note

English-Irish Index

Note: The old Irish letters used in the original text* have been converted to the Roman alphabet for this online version, and the lenited (or dotted) consonants changed to their aspirated equivalents, i.e. the dotted 'c' has been altered to 'ch', the dotted 'g' to 'gh', and the dotted 'm' to 'mh', etc. For example, in the name Caoimgin (Kevin), where the 'm' and 'g' are both dotted (ṁ, ġ) in the old Irish lettering, the name has been converted here to the modern Irish equivalent of Caoimhghin.

* Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames by Rev. Patrick Woulfe, 1923.

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