Ahern, also Aherne (Irish: Ó hEachtighearna/Ó hEachthairn, meaning "descendant of Eachthighearna") is an Irish surname. Variants of the surname include Ahearn(e) and Hearn(e). There are 2718 people with the surname Ahern in Ireland, and 1404 people in the United Kingdom. The variant Aherne is borne by 1480 people in Ireland and 919 people in the United Kingdom. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Ahernes were one of the chiefly families of the Dal gCais or Dalcassians who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC. Notable people with the surname include:

Members of the political Ahern family in Ireland

Other people

Other uses

In the same way that the onomatopoeic expression "rhubarb-rhubarb" was used to represent the sounds uttered by members of the British House of Commons, "hearn-hearn" was often used in the Goon Show to represent the sounds uttered by speakers of US English (e.g., The Sleeping Prince). The Irish sept of Ahearn/Ahern descends from Echthighern mac Cennétig.