McHugh, MacAodha
A Gaelic surname meaning son of Aodh meaning ‘fire’. A sept who were a branch of the ó Flaithbheartaigh (O’Flaherty) and who were chiefs of Clann Choscraigh in the barony of Clare in Galway. According to MacLysaght there was also a sept near Tuam in Galway. In 1890 McHugh was numerous in Mayo, Fermanagh and Leitrim, it was also to be found in Donegal and Galway. The estimated number of bearers was 7,884. In the United States it is the 2,244th most numerous surname with an estimated 16,500 bearers.