Ó Daimhín or Ní Dhaimhín is one of several surnames derived from the
Irish Gaelic
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was th ...
that are now rendered in English as Devine. The root of this name is "''damh''", which according to Dineen means an "ox or a Stag". It is also used figuratively as "hero". Confusingly, scholars in the 19th and early 20th centuries sometimes thought it was derived from "''dámh''", meaning a bard or poet but this is no longer accepted. Older Irish forms of the name were written as ''Ua Daimhín'' and ''Ua Daimhín''.
According to
Edward MacLysaght,
[MacLysaght, Edward (1972). ''Irish Families (Their Names, Arms and Origins)'', Allen Figgis Press, Dublin, Ireland.]
The name Devine is chiefly found to-day in the counties of Tyrone and Londonderry but is now rare in Fermanagh
Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...
. Up to the fifteenth century the chief of this sept
A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ...
was Lord of Tirkennedy in Co. Fermanagh. Though the etymology
Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...
of the name has been questioned, we may accept the view of so eminent a scholar as O’Donovan that it is in Irish ''Ó Daimhín''.
Other names that may derive from Ó Daimhín or similar-sounding Irish names are: O'Devine, Devane, Davin, Devin, Divin, Divine, Diven, Devan and Dwayne.
See also
* City of
Devine, Texas
Devine is a city in Medina County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,350 at the 2010 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Devine, Texas, is named for Hon. Thomas J. Devine, a native of San Anton ...
: named after Judge Thomas Jefferson Devine.
References
External links
Muinntir DhuibhínInformation on the name Devine
{{DEFAULTSORT:O Daimhin
Irish-language surnames
Patronymic surnames
Surnames of Irish origin