I heard somewhere that the ';o'; in Irish surnames got removed if you committed a crime. True or False?

Also could somebody tell me the etymology of the ';o'; in irish names?I heard somewhere that the ';o'; in Irish surnames got removed if you committed a crime. True or False?
';脫'; before a name means ';grandson of'; or ';descendant of';, and ';Mac'; before a name means ';son of';. If you're female, the ';脫'; is replaced with ';N铆'; and ';Mac'; is replaced with ';Nic';. But that thing about committing a crime isn't true. It wouldn't make any sense. Many Irish people who emigrated to America did drop the ';O'; (so O'Sullivan would become Sullivan etc) but it has nothing to do with crime.I heard somewhere that the ';o'; in Irish surnames got removed if you committed a crime. True or False?
maybe in the mid evil days..
No, not that I've heard of anyway.


In the Irish language, if you're a boy, they put the ';O'; between your 1st name and surname. If you're a girl it's ';N铆 ';.


Hope that helps
My parents are both from the West of Ireland, and I have never heard that one. My fathers name in Irish is Seamus, O'Cadhain, but it was changed to JamesCoyne, when he moved to England. I didn't know his real name until I visited Ireland last year, and thought I was visiting someone else's grave, until someone explained it all to me.