Reilly vs O'Reilly

[chiptin]

When they came to the U.S., Reilly and O'Reilly was spelled every which way, ex. Riley and O'Riley.

What spelling was the norm in Ireland in the mid 1800s and why the difference (and usage)reasons between Reilly and O'Reilly?

My gggrandfather Patrick O'Riley was said to have changed his surname to Reilly (after arriving in the U.S.) because it was "more elegant".

Should it have been Reilly or O'Reilly to begin with?

[fifer1947]

I have both for the same family in the mid to late 1800's so I'm unsure as to when or why the change took place.

Ann Reilly married Thomas Leslie BUT the following census data after Ann's death shows the uncle's name clearly as O'Reilly.  Perhaps they were interchangeable?

1901 Census of Ireland
Louth - St Lawrence Gate - Drogheda
19 Marsh Road
Leslie   Thomas   25   M   Head   RC   Drogheda   Printer-Compositor   R&W   S
Leslie   Margaret   27   F   Sister   RC   Drogheda   Tailors Machinist   R&W   S
Leslie   Rose   21   F   Sister   RC   Drogheda   Tailors Machinist   R&W   S
O'Reilly   Patrick J   50   M   Uncle   RC   Co Meath   Printer-Compositor   R&W   Wdr
O'Reilly   Luke   20   M   Cousin   RC   Kilkenny    Railway Servant   R&W   S
Greene   Alice   16   F   Cousin   RC   Liverpool Mantle Maker   R&W   S

[aghadowey]

Spelling was very fluid (not just in Ireland) so there's no one 'real' spelling for a surname and it's not uncommon for surname variations even withing a single document.
It wasn't uncommon for people moving to a new country like America to change their name (perhaps Reilly sounded less Irish than O'Reilly- remember that in many places, like Boston, Irish immigrants were not welcomed since so many had arrived around the time of the Irish Famine).

[CBGenealogy]

It was almost certainly O'Reilly to begin with but people used both - spelling wasn't really fixed until the early 20th century.  I know someone who couldn't find her grandfather and they were McCormacks, and she found eventually under Cormack.  People were mostly illiterate so they couldn't correct someone else's spelling.  My favourite example is a birth cert I have: surname Lacey, also spelt both Leacy and Lacy.  3 different ways on one cert.

[BeccW]

Yes, have to agree is was O'Reilly to begin with. I also suffer the same problem going from O'Rielly, to Riley (Rielly) when the family moved from Ireland to Middlesborough, UK in 1871 and then changed again when their eldest son moved to Australia in 1860 to O'Rielly. I suspect the first change was perhaps to blend in a little easier as I know in Middlesborough there was a fair bit of complict amongst the English and the large numbers of "alien" Irish flooding in to work the Iron Works there. Think they were very interchangable...

[rachelralph]

i am having similar difficulty with O'roarke and Roarke from ireland. on the mariage it is roarke, but when im looking at the irish records none of the roarkes make any sense and yet a few of the o'roarkes do.

[CBGenealogy]

With that surname, you need to be looking at all the varient spellings: Rourke, Ruairc, Rorke and all of them with the O prefix.