Scots-Irish

[KiltedKnight]

I have a good friend by the name of O'Brien who is originally from the Philly area of Pennsylvania. In our circle of friends came another fellow by the name of Brien, (These are last names), and according to the both of them they claim that since Mr. Brien had lost the 'O' from his name somewhere along the away that this was because someone in his family had been a horse thief. Now I don't know what to believe, anyone know the truth?

Chris.

[macwilkin]

I have a good friend by the name of O'Brien who is originally from the Philly area of Pennsylvania. In our circle of friends came another fellow by the name of Brien, (These are last names), and according to the both of them they claim that since Mr. Brien had lost the 'O' from his name somewhere along the away that this was because someone in his family had been a horse thief. Now I don't know what to believe, anyone know the truth?

Chris.

More likely it was changed so it wouldn't look and sound so "Irish", either by his relative, or by the immigration official.

Cheers,

Todd

[Moosehead]

Many Irish dumped the O' or Mc because for awhile irish names were basically illegal, so many were anglicised. The thought that O' was "taken" away is nonsense. By the way, I'm an O'Brien descendant myself.

[KiltedKnight]

These explanations make more sense than the horse thief story...