Beggs (Irish: Ó Beig) is a

Gaelic surname Onomastics is an important source of information on the early Celts, as Greco-Roman historiography recorded Celtic names before substantial written information becomes available in any Celtic language. Like Germanic names, early Celtic names are ...

, which originated in Scotland. It is derived from the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

word beag, which means little, although some instances of the name derive from the English name 'Bigg'. As a result of migration Beggs live in Ireland, Scotland, England, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It was first found in

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

, where they held a

family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families to ...

from

ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

. Spelling variants include

Begg Begg (from Gaelic ''Beag'': little, young, small of stature) is a Scottish surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexander Charles Begg (1912–1995), New Zealand radiologist and historian * Alistair Begg (b. 1952), Scottish minister i ...

, Begge or Beg The name is rare and its bearers primarily reside in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. In 1890 an estimated 1340 bore the name, primarily in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

and

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. In the 1980s half of its bearers in Ireland were located in County Antrim and in the mid-1800s it was almost exclusively contained to the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Antrim Upper Antrim Upper is a barony in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by six other baronies: Antrim Lower to the north; Toome Upper to the west; Massereene Lower to the south-west; Belfast Upper to the south; Belfast Lower to the south-eas ...

People

Bobby Beggs Robert Beggs (25 February 1911 – 7 May 1993) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for club sides Skerries Harps and Wolfe Tones and at inter-county level with the Dublin and Galway senior football teams. Career Beggs first came to pr ...

, Irish

gaelic footballer Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

* Charles A. Beggs (1869–1939), American politician * Gail Beggs, Canadian government official * Jacqueline Beggs (born 1962), New Zealand entomologist and ecologist *

James M. Beggs James Montgomery Beggs (January 9, 1926 – April 23, 2020) was an American businessman and consultant who served as the 6th Administrator of NASA from 1981 to 1986. Early life and education James Montgomery Beggs was born in Pittsburgh, Pe ...

(1926–2020), former American NASA administrator *

Joe Beggs Joseph Stanley Beggs (November 4, 1910 – July 19, 1983), nicknamed "Fireman", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants of Major League Baseball. With the Reds, he ...

(1910–1983), American baseball player *

John I. Beggs John Irvin Beggs (September 17, 1847 – October 17, 1925) was an American businessman. He was associated closely with the electric utility boom under Thomas Edison. He was also associated with Milwaukee, St. Louis, Missouri and other regiona ...

(1847–1925), American entrepreneur, former director of General Electric *

Lyall T. Beggs Lyall T. Beggs (November 9, 1899 – May 14, 1973) was a past commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Life and education Beggs was born in Plainfield, Wisconsin in 1899. He attended Cam ...

(1899–1973), American politician *

Nick Beggs Nicholas Beggs (born 15 December 1961Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 270-271) is an English musician, noted for playing the bass guitar and the Chapman Stick; he is a member of the Mute Go ...

(born 1961), British musician, member of Kajagoogoo *

Pam Beggs Pamela Anne Beggs (née Austin; born 23 May 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1983 to 1993, representing the seat of Whitford. Beggs was born in Inverel ...

(born 1947), Australian politician *

Roy Beggs John Robert Beggs (born 20 February 1936), commonly known as Roy Beggs, is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician. Beggs was educated at Ballyclare High School, followed by Stranmillis College, to study teacher training. After his training ...

(born 1936), Northern Ireland politician *

Roy Beggs Jr Roy Beggs Jr (born 3 July 1962) is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim from 1998 until March 2022. Beggs is the son of the politician Roy Beggs, who was the UUP M ...

(born 1962), Northern Ireland politician, son of Roy Beggs

References

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People

See also

References