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Costello (surname)

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Costello
Pronunciation/kəˈstɛl/ or (especially in Ireland) /ˈkɒstəl/
Italian: [koˈstɛllo]
Language(s)English
Origin
Language(s)Irish
Word/nameMac Oisdealbhaigh
Meaning"son of Oisdealbhach (Os-shaped, shaped like the god Os or shaped like god cf. os)"
Other names
Cognate(s)Mac Oisdealbh, Mac Goisdelbh, Mac Coisdealbhaigh
See alsoMac Coisteala

Costello is a surname of Irish origin, which has been used as a stage name by Italians and others.[1]

History

The Irish surnames Costello and Costellow are anglicized forms of the Gaelic surname Mac Oisdealbhaigh, itself a Gaelicized form of an Anglo-Norman name. This was the first example of a Norman family assuming a Gaelic name.[2]

This surname has been mainly borne by a notable Irish family who claimed descent from Jocelyn de Angulo, an Anglo-Norman mercenary who accompanied Richard de Clare to Ireland in 1170 during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.

An early record of the name in Ireland appears in the 17th century Annals of the Four Masters where the name is mentioned in the entry for the year in 1193: Inis Clothrann do orgain la macaibh Oisdealb, & la macaibh Conchobhair Maonmaighe. (Inishcloghbran was plundered by the sons of Oisdealb, and the sons of Conor Moinmoy.)[3] The descendants of Oisdealb then became referred to by the family name Mac Oisdealbhaigh (son of Oisdealb).

Costello has also occasionally has been adopted as a pseudonym or stage name by famous people largely of Italian descent, including Al Costello ( Giacomo Costa), Frank Costello ( Francesco Castiglia) and Lou Costello ( Louis Francis Cristillo).

People

Fictional characters with the surname

See also

References

  1. ^ The Routledge History of Italian Americans, William J. Connell, Stanislao G. Pugliese
  2. ^ Edward MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland, under "Costello".
  3. ^ "Annals of the Four Masters". ucc.ie. Retrieved 18 April 2015.