Flaherty

Flaherty is a surname of Irish origin. It derives from the Gaelic Ó Flaithbheartaigh, meaning “descendant of Flaithbheartaigh,” a personal name historically associated with Gaelic families in Connacht. The name was concentrated in western Ireland and expanded abroad through emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today it is found in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and North America, among other regions.

Variants of the name include O'Flaherty, Flahertie, and Flaherty, with other spellings appearing in records from different regions. The modern form Flaherty is the predominant English rendering.

Notable bearers of the surname include Robert J. Flaherty (1884–1951), a Canadian-American documentary filmmaker best known for Nanook of the North, a landmark work in ethnographic cinema. The surname is found among individuals across a range of fields, including politics, sports, and the arts, reflecting the broad Irish diaspora.