The Surname Shaw is found in England Ireland and Scotland. When found in England the name is a topographic name for someone who lived by a copse or thicket, Middle English s(c)hage. When found in Ireland and Scotland the name Shaw is an anglicized form  of any of various Gaelic surnames derived from the personal name Sitheach meaning “wolf.” The first written reference to the name is in 1191 when Simon de Schage, is recorded in the Berkshire Pipe Rolls. One of the most notable bearers of the name was George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), who was born in Dublin into a Protestant family established in Ireland by William Shaw a captain in William III's army, who went there in 1689. The American playwright and author Irwin Shaw was born in 1913. Irwin Shaw's published works have sold more than 14 million copies to date.

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