GearinGearin

The story

The surname Gearin and variations thereof likely arose independently multiple times in Western Europe. In Ireland, it is probably derived from Ó Gearáin, perhaps a diminutive of the Old Irish, “gér,” meaning “sharp,” “intelligent,” and “piercing.” In England and continental Europe, Gearin may variously derive from “guerre” meaning “war” or “gār” and “geirr” which mean “spear,” and which share their etymology with Old Irish, “gér” through from Proto-Celtic *gaisos, and Proto-Germanic *gaizaz. Both roots have cognates in Old English, Old French, and Old Norse, which may have resulted in contemporaneous families with non-shared ancestries to adopt the surname.