This surname may be extinct

Mullgrew Surname Definition:

An earlier anglicized form of this, O'Mulcreevy, is a fair phonetic approximation of the original Irish Ó Maolchraoibhe. Mulcreevy, * however, is now extremely rare, if not extinct, having become Mulgrew in its original habitat, Co. Tyrone.

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Mullgrew Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland111:402,71514,385
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England61:4,062,562101,150
Scotland51:748,64318,576
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States11:50,218,684817,899

Mullgrew Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

An earlier anglicized form of this, O'Mulcreevy, is a fair phonetic approximation of the original Irish Ó Maolchraoibhe. Mulcreevy, * however, is now extremely rare, if not extinct, having become Mulgrew in its original habitat, Co. Tyrone. This is no recent change, for O'Mulgrew and O'Mulgrue both occur in the Tyrone hearth money rolls (1664) in the barony of Dungannon, in which document the more usual form O'Mulcrieve also appears. The almost contemporary Petty “census” lists Mulcreevy as a “principal Irish name” in the barony of Dundalk and O'Mulcreve in nearby Orior, Co.

Armagh. The intermediate form O'Mulcrew not only occurs in the Elizabethan Antrim Fiants, but as early as 1428 we find one Rory O'Mulcrew in trouble with the Bishop of Dromore. Early seventeenth century documents relating to the Plantation of Ulster have both Mulcreeve and Mulcrew among the “meer Irish”.

At the present time Mulgrew is quite a numerous name in several counties of north-east Ulster.

Grew, which I take to be an abbreviation of Mulgrew, is not very numerous but is well-known in Co.

Armagh. Father Seosamh Ó Dufaigh in the Clogher Record (1959 p. 399) confidently suggests that Grue, which he says is common in the Clones district, is an anglicized form of Mac Riabhaigh; but surely Mulgrue is a more likely origin for Grue and Grew. It is also hard to accept Fr. O'Gallachair's suggestion that MacGrue is an intermediate form of the Tyrone name. MacGrew and MacGreo appear six times in Elizabethan Fiants, four of these being in the west of Ireland and the other two in south-east Leinster: not one is in Ulster. An isolated case in Ulster two centuries later does occur in the Derry wills (Drumrath, 1774). It should also be added that there is a surname Grew derived from the Old-French griu, a crane, but I have found no evidence that any of these settled in Ireland.

*It has also curiously been made Rice, see Irish Families, p. 250.

— Supplement to Irish Families (1964) by Edward MacLysaght

The earlier anglicization, O’Mulcreevy, is nearer to original Irish Ó Maolcraoibhe. Mulgrew is numerous in north-east Ulster and the rarer abbreviation Grew is found in Co. Armagh. There is also an English surname Grew, derived from Old-French griu (a crane). SIF 117

— A Guide to Irish Names (1964) by Edward MacLysaght
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:
  • Religious Adherence in:
    Ireland

Mullgrew Demographics

Mullgrew Religious Adherence
in Ireland

Sample size: 11 (1901)

Religious Adherence
in Ireland

View the most religious surnames in Ireland

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Mullygrew940/
Mulgrew933,379/
Millgrew880/
Mollegrew820/
Milgrew8025/
Mulgrow804/
Malgrew801/
Mulcrew801/
Melgrew801/
Mulgraw800/
Mullgrav7590/
Mulcrow6776/
Mulgrav673/
Milgrow671/
Mulgriff630/
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  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Mullgrew
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