Surprisingly this early Irish surname is not a shortened form of the more familiar MacCarthy, although the original meaning is the same. Its origins are "O'Carthaigh", from the early Gaelic "Carthach", translating as "loving" or probably, "the loving one", an unusual descriptive nickname for clans known more for their warlike, than their "loving" tendencies! The Carty clan originates principally in the County of Wexford, where it is also recorded in the spelling of Carthy. Many Cartys left Ireland in the wake of the Great Famine (1846 - 1848), the earliest recorded being Bernard, his wife, Bridget, his son, Thomas, and his mother, Mary, who sailed on the "Fredonia" of Liverpool, in April 1846, bound for New York. Unfortunately, Irish records before 1864 are either erratic or non-existent, therefore their homeplace has not been identified. Name recordings include, Bartholomew Carty, the son of Jonathon (below), who married at St. Peter and St. Kevin, Dublin, to Jane Swan, on July 1st 1721. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jonathon Carty, which was dated March 27th 1692, married at St. Peter and St. Kevin, Dublin, during the reign of King William 111 of Orange, 1689 - 1702. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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