Leary Family History

Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Ó Laoghaire ‘descendant of Laoghaire’ (see O'Leary ). English: nickname from an unrecorded Middle English word lery a derivative of Middle English ler Old English hlēor ‘face countenance complexion’. It may have been synonymous with Middle English lere ‘fair of face’ or there may have been Middle English senses that anticipated later uses of leer ‘looking askance; sly underhand’ and leery lairy ‘wary’ or ‘knowing’. Compare Lear.

English: in Devon this surname alternatively may be a habitational name from Leary Barton in West Buckland. The place may take its name from a lost stream-name of uncertain origin.