My 3rd great grandmother Bridget was born in Ireland in about 1818. She immigrated to Quebec, Canada in about 1840 and later to the United States. Her maiden name is spelled differently in every record we have available, and was variously spelled: Leho, Lao, Leo, and Leao. Leho is the only original source spelling (her eldest daughter's baptismal record in Quebec), and the other spellings are from her other children's death certificates.

My branch of the family has consistently spelled it "O'Leigho" in family trees for at least the last 60 years, but I believe that's the result of "playing telephone" with her name through the generations.

Unfortunately I don't know what part of Ireland she immigrated from. Her illiterate husband's surname was McGary/McGarry, but it's unclear if they married before or after immigration.

Does anyone have suggestions for "real" Irish surname(s) that fit well with the phonetic pronunciation of Leho, Lao, Leo & Leao? I realize that without genetic proof, we'll likely never know for sure, but it would be great to have some help with figuring out what surnames and areas to explore in Ireland as possible family links. I've wondered about Ó LAOIDHIGH and LIATH, but figured folks with better understanding of pronunciation would have better luck hazarding a guess.

Thank you in advance!

-Mary

The modern nearest equivalent is Ó Laoi (Lee) , variant in English is Lea

Irish spelling variants are : Leagh, Laoigh,Laogh

But none of them sounds like "Leho", and actually I don't think there are many Irish surnames that end with an o-sound...

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Thank you! Are there any regional or immigrant traditions anyone's aware of where the O' sound would be moved from the front to the back of a name? Or perhaps a Scotch-Irish/Ulster Scots name that would fit better (although she was Catholic)? She's very consistently listed as an Irish immigrant on records throughout her life.

Written language can be pretty ambiguous when it comes to sound, and I for one amn't sure how you pronounce your name (ee, ai, eh etc). It might help if you uploaded a soundclip of yourself (or one of your eldest surviving relatives) pronouncing the name as it is typically done in your family.

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A language belongs to its native speakers, and when you speak it, you are a guest in their homes.
If you are not a good guest, you have no right to complain about receiving poor hospitality.

True, NiallBeag. This is an audio file of me saying "O'Leigho" as it was passed down to me.

https://soundcloud.com/mary-cyrus/oleigho

Bridget was my grandfather's grandmother, but unfortunately everyone from his generation is deceased.

Correction: his great grandmother. Not that it really matters. Long story short: we're pretty far removed from anyone who knew her or how she pronounced her maiden name.

I wonder if it could have been " Ó Laoghóg"? In the north, at least, that first syllable would be pronounced similarly to "lee," and the "g" could have dropped off in the Anglicized version. One Anglicization at Irish Identity.com is "Leeogue," which I could easily see morphing into something like "Leho" over the years.

Redwolf

Another couple of possibilities from MacLysaght’s Surnames of Ireland:

Leo, an Anglo-irish name peculiar to County Limerick, for which there are several possible derivations given in the sources found by MacLysaght: (1) from the Latin leo ("lion"), (2) a locative derived from lea (a water meadow), and (3) from the French l'eau ("the water").

and (something of a stretch, depending on how it's pronounced):

Lehane or Leehan, which are Anglicizations of Ó Liatháin, which MacLysaght says is probably derived ultimately from the word liath ("grey"). MacLysaght says that these Anglicizations both originated in County Limerick, as well, although they are now found mostly in County Cork. Lyons is another Anglicization of the Irish name Ó Liatháin, and is found in various places in Ireland.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

Two remote possibilities:
Ó Laithimh - if it had come to be pronounced /lahu:/ in some areas (compare 'Agnew' < Ó Gnímh)
Ó Laochdha - again, if there was somewhere it was pronounced /le:xu:/
?

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(SL)(GM)