Doyle
Doyle is a surname of Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish
Ó Dubhghaill, meaning "descendant of
Dubhghall". The personal name
Dubhghall contains the elements
dubh "black" +
gall "stranger". Similar Scottish and Irish surnames, derived from the same personal name are:
MacDougall /
McDougall and
MacDowell /
McDowell. During the Viking Age the term
Dubhghoill was used to describe the Vikings—usually Danes—and the term
Fionnghoill was used to describe Norwegians. It is commonly held that these terms were used to distinguish the darker-haired Danes from fair-haired Norwegians. Later,
Fionnghall was used to describe Scottish Gaels from the Hebrides, and sometimes the Hiberno-Normans. The most common term for the Hiberno-Normans was
Seanghoill to difference themselves from the
Dubhghoill the "new foreigners" or "dark foreigners" who came to Ireland during Tudor conquest of Ireland. The name
Doyle is not found in any of the old genealogies, like other prominent Irish families.