This interesting name is a variant of Carey which itself comes from three possible sources. Firstly, it may be the Anglicized version of the Gaelic, "O'Ciardha", the male descendant of (O) "Chiardha", a personal name derived from "ciar", dark, black. This name belonged to the southern Irish sept of Ui Neill who were lords of Carbury (Co. Kildare) and is now widespread in counties Cork, Kerry and Tipperary. The name may also be of Norman locational origin from "Carrey" near Lisieux, Normandy, introduced to England during the Norman Invasion, 1066. Carey is the name of a family established for centuries in the parish of St. Martin, Guernsey, whose earliest traceable ancestor was Jean Careye in 1393, but the name Caree was recorded in 1288, probably from this Norman origin. Finally, the name may be of English locational origin from minor places in Devon and Somerset, so called from the river of the same name, from the Celtic Root "Car-", liking, hence "pleasant stream". Frauncis Kerrie was christened at St. Mary at Hill, London on April 8th 1578, while at Chestnut, Hertfordshire Mary Keary married Jonathan Crowther on February 17th 1788. Emma Kearey married Frederick Malcom at All Souls, St. Marylebone, London, on December 2nd 1856. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Homo de Kari, which was dated 1205, Pleas before the King or his justices, 1198 - 1212, during the reign of King John known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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