Notes on Our Genealogy

Here’s the short version: I want to understand the history of the surname Quaid, and I think the best way to do that is through Y-DNA testing. If you come by the name Quaid in the traditional way and you have a Y chromosome, I would like a chance to convince you to take a Y-DNA test so we can figure out the relationship of everyone named Quaid. As I’ve described in this post , I believe the name Quaid arose in rural County Limerick, most likely in the 17th century, as a quirky Anglicization of the Irish name Ó Cuáin . The evidence suggests that the name Quaid is entirely distinct in origin from the name McQuaid, but that it is closely related to Quain. In the Irish Census of 1901 and 1911 the name Quain is more common than Quaid, and is also geographically distinct. So there are at least two theories about how this might have happened. Theory #1 is that the choice of how to Anglicize Ó Cuáin was a regional thing, possibly down to one person – let’s say the parish curate of Croom – pre...