Comments (Meaning / History Only)
Ireland may be one of the places the name Kerry comes from but it's not the only place. My name Kerrie is a form of Kerry and it isn't Irish but Welsh. It comes from the Welsh Goddess Kerridwen / Keridwen / Ceridwen / Cerridwen. "Goddess of arts, music and poetry" meaning "Blessed Song/Poetry". I like the Welsh meaning of Kerry/Kerrie much more than the Irish "Dusky".
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I have a book on old names which also refers to Kerry both in old Gaelic and in the Welsh form. The book mainly covers Scottish and Welsh names i.e. it refers to Celtic & Gaelic names.
Old Gaelic: Kerry & Kerri are shown as the two forms. Kerri being the feminine and Kerry is the masculine. Kerri is associated with the meaning "the Dark one" and Kerry is translated as "son of the dark one". I think this refers to hair colouring rather than skin complexion but I may be wrong here.
When the Latin alphabet was linked to the Welsh language the letter "K" was not used but the letter "C" was used for the harsh "K" sound leaving "S" for the softer sound so the symbol "K" was not needed. The name is thus spelt "Ceri".
Old stories have referred to warriors with the name "Ceri" in Wales and until modern times it has been a masculine name.
Born in 1958, I went to an all boys school. In my class of 30 five of us had the name. Three of us had it spelt the traditional Welsh way of Ceri and two of us had it spelt Kerry. I was 21 before I heard of a girl being given the name.
There are of course other meanings such as a "man of Kerry" (i.e. County Kerry), small black dairy cattle (Irish origin). The name is suffixed to give us the work "knobkerry" which is a club known tob be used by Zulus in the 19th century as a weapon to beat the enemy to death with. The term here is believed to come from an Afikaans word.
The most famous Kerry of the 60's & 70's being the Australian Kerry Packer, who became well known through his infamous cricket tours.
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Old Gaelic: Kerry & Kerri are shown as the two forms. Kerri being the feminine and Kerry is the masculine. Kerri is associated with the meaning "the Dark one" and Kerry is translated as "son of the dark one". I think this refers to hair colouring rather than skin complexion but I may be wrong here.
When the Latin alphabet was linked to the Welsh language the letter "K" was not used but the letter "C" was used for the harsh "K" sound leaving "S" for the softer sound so the symbol "K" was not needed. The name is thus spelt "Ceri".
Old stories have referred to warriors with the name "Ceri" in Wales and until modern times it has been a masculine name.
Born in 1958, I went to an all boys school. In my class of 30 five of us had the name. Three of us had it spelt the traditional Welsh way of Ceri and two of us had it spelt Kerry. I was 21 before I heard of a girl being given the name.
There are of course other meanings such as a "man of Kerry" (i.e. County Kerry), small black dairy cattle (Irish origin). The name is suffixed to give us the work "knobkerry" which is a club known tob be used by Zulus in the 19th century as a weapon to beat the enemy to death with. The term here is believed to come from an Afikaans word.
The most famous Kerry of the 60's & 70's being the Australian Kerry Packer, who became well known through his infamous cricket tours.
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A county in Ireland, the "Ring of Kerry." Which is why I would think the name would be Irish and not English. And this name happens to be my sister's, and from what we've always found, the name means "Dark" or "Dark-haired", not "Ciar's People". Although I do believe the Gaelic way to spell it is Ciarrai, and maybe perhaps "Ciar" means dark? But we've always found the meaning "Dark-Haired" or "Dark", and never any mention of a specific person.
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It also means Dark Eyes or Dark.
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