Martin, Gil(l)martin, Mac Giolla Mhairtín, Mac Máirtín, ó Mártain
A surname of Irish, Scottish and English origin. A Gaelic surname Mac Giolla Mhairtín meaning ‘son of the devotee of Saint Martin’. Also anglicised as MacGillmartins. A sept of the Cineál Eoghain who were chiefs of Cenél Feradaigh, which embraced the barony of Clogher in Tyrone. A sept in Fermanagh who were a branch of the MacGuires. Mac Máirtín in Tyrone a branch of the ó Neill. Martyn one of the ‘Tribes of Galway’. In Scotland there are three sources of the surname: One of the three main branches of the Clan Cameron, Clan Mhic Mhartin of Letterfinlay. A family in East Lothian. Mac Martin, clerk to chancellor William the Lion. In St. Andrews in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Martin of Marshadden descendent of Martin eldest son of Aonghas na Gaoithe (Clan Donald). In Ulster the surname would be of Scottish origin. The English surname is from the mediaeval Latin Martinus, a diminutive of Martius, from Mars the god of war. Martius was an early personal name. There is also a Manx surname Mac Giolla Mhairtin, which may have spread to the east coast of Ireland. In 1890, Martin was the thirty-eight most numerous surname, the estimated number of bearers was 14,600, and the surname was to be found all over Ireland, principally in Antrim, Down, Dublin and Monaghan. In 1890 Gilmartin was numerous in Sligo, it was also to be found in Leitrim. The estimated number of bearers was 1,075. In the United States Martin is the 16th most numerous surname with an estimated 750,750 bearers. In England and Wales in 1996 it was the 28th most numerous surname. In Scotland in 1995 it was the 33rd most numerous surname.