English
The surname Maguire is of Irish origin. It is an anglicization of the Gaelic name Mag Uidhir, 'son of Odhar', a byname meaning 'sallow'. According to legend, St. Odhar was St. Patrick's charioteer. In Irish the name is Maguidhir. 'Uidhir' is the genitive case of 'odhar' meaning dun-coloured; mag is a form of mac used before vowels. Pierre Macquer ( 1718-84 ) was a French chemist who wrote a popular textbook and the first chemical dictionary. He was a descendant from a Jacobite who had accompanied James II into exile into France. His surname is probably an altered form of Maguire, and he may have been related to the MaGuires who were barons of Enniskillen. One of the most noteworthy of the name in Ireland is that of Hugh Maguire who commanded the cavalary at the battle of Yellow Ford. The name first appears in historical archives in 926, but the predominance of the family in Ireland dates only from the fourteenth century; for the next three centuries their chief was one of the most important in Northern Ireland. They were not entirely dispossessed by the plantation of Ulster, but they suffered very severely by the Cromwellian and Williamite confiscations. The name was brought to America predominately by Irish immigrants. One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a Daniel McGuire, who emigrated to America aboard the barque Sally; he settled in Philadelphia. This name is the three-hundredth and ninety-third most numerous name in America.