mellamphy.com

History of the name Mellamphy

Dan Mellamphy of New Zealand and Peggy Larsen of the US have done considerable research into Mellamphy family history and the origins of the name: This page summarizes their work and that of other noted Mellamphilosophers. Denny MeLampy sent in a recent but as yet unattributed write-up on the "MeLampy" name which corroborates and adds to this research (click on the image at right to see a copy of the short article) .

What the name means

In Irish, the prefix O means grandchild or descendant: The clan O'Maolanfaidh (with all its modern derivative spellings) is therefore "descendant of Maolanfaidh, Chief of the Storm" (Woulfe: Slointe Gaedeal is Gall: Irish Names & Surnames. Dublin: MH Gill & Son Ltd., 1923). From the Irish Maol-an-faidh (or the Scottish "Mael-an-faidh") the name is traditionally pronounced as something close to "mayol-UN-fee-ah".

Maol can be translated as chief, prince, noble, or eminent person; Anfaidh is the genitive singular of Old Irish "Anfud" or "Anbod" meaning a storm or tempest (formed from An meaning the and Faidh meaning a blow/gust of wind). Alternately, Anfaidh can also be understood as dashing, raging, turbulent, stubborn, obstinate, or furious. As a name, then, Maolanfaidh can be understood to mean anything from Obstinate Nobleman to Lord of the Fart — which is probably why not many Mellamphys contest the translation to Chief of the Storm. (For more, see family forum discussion.)

Alternate Spellings

In marriage and baptismal records at Kilbarron parish, Co. Tipperary, the name is recorded as Mullampy. At the Northern Tipperary Heritage Center, however, the spelling is standardized to Molamphy, which is a more common spelling in Ireland. Malamphy seems often to have been given to American immigrants, according to spellings noted in our family tree. Research continues as to when the history of the clan O'Maolanfaidh was literally re-written to become that of the clans Mellamphy in all our spellings (click here for more) but related names found around the world include:

Malamphy, Malanaphy, Malanphy, Mallanaphy, Malumphy, Maolanfaidh, MeLampy, Melaniphy, Melaniphy, Melanophy, Melanphy, Melenephy, Mellamphy, Mellanphy, Moalombhthe, Molamphy, Molanphy, Molumby, Molumphy, Molumpy, Mulanaphy, Mullampy, Mullanaphy, Mullanphy, and O'Maolanfaidh.

Brian Malanaphy's MalanaphyFamily.com web site is an excellent resource to find links related to each spelling, and to post messages for family members world-wide.