Sean Connery was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, the son of Euphamia C. "Effie" (née Maclean), a cleaning woman, and Joseph Connery, a factory worker and truck driver.[6] His father was a Roman Catholic of Irish descent with roots in County Wexford, while his mother was a Scottish Protestant. He claims he was called Sean, his middle name, long before becoming an actor, explaining that when he was young he had an Irish friend named Séamus and that those who knew them both had decided to call Connery by his middle name whenever both were present.