Galway as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Galway

What is the meaning of the name Galway ?

The baby name Galway is a Unisex name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈɡælweɪ/ (GAL-way).

Galway is Irish in Origin.

Galway is a rare given name derived from the Irish place-name Gaillimh, the city and county on Ireland’s west coast. The toponym goes back to the River Gaillimh (now Corrib) and is most often interpreted as “stony” or “stony river,” from an Old Irish root gal-/gall- relating to stone; a local legend instead traces it to a chieftain’s daughter, Gaillimh, who drowned there.

As a forename, Galway functions as a modern, largely Anglophone, gender-neutral choice, typically adopted for Irish heritage or the city’s cultural associations. It appears in records sporadically from the late 20th century. Surname and spelling variants include Galway, Galwey, and Gallwey; the Irish form is Gaillimh (rare as a given name). Possible diminutives are Gal and Gally. Usage notes: despite surface similarity to gall “foreigner,” the place-name is not generally analyzed as “town of foreigners.”

⚙ Galway is extremely rare. Our whole dataset turns up only 7 recorded uses, across 6 countries.