Surname Origin

[Magnu420]

heres mine

This ancient surname which can be confusingly English, Dutch, Germanic, Norman French or even Scottish in origin.

 

[Spectre]

Was it 7th Century?

Has anyones been a recent surname?

 

[witchy]

Was it 7th Century?

Has anyones been a recent surname?

Mine is an ancient Scottish name, but there are records of the same name in use in Ireland. Records show the use of the name in both Ireland and Scotland at the same time, people with my surname most commonly originate from County Roscommon, which is where my family migrated from during the Irish famine.

I've done lot's of family history research and the info on that site matches up with what I already knew from the General Register of Scotland Archives and various other sources.

So, for my surname, it's spot on.

I also checked my wifes maiden name, it was also spot on with the information we already knew.

 

[dont do it it"ll hurt]

This interesting name is of Irish origin, and although found in Scotland in the forms of Roney and Ronnay, is a variant of Rooney, the Anglicization of the Gaelic "O'Ruanaidh", translating as "the descendant of the champion", the prefix "O" denoting grandson or male descendant. The (O)Rooneys were an ancient sept of Dromore, County Down, where Ballyroney locales them. Today the name is principally to be found in Ulster, where there is a place called Rooney's island in County Donegal. The O'Rooneys were a literary family, producing a long line of poets from 1079 (see below) until William Rooney (1873-1901), poet and Gaelic Revivalist. In Dromore Parish, County Down, are recorded the christenings of Anne Jane Roney on April 25th 1790, and John Roney on February 21st 1796. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ceallach O'Rooney (chief poet of Ireland), which was dated 1079, in County Down, Ireland, during the reign of King William 1, known as "William the Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

 

[harry127]

This is an English surname which is much associated with the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

 

[Baaheeduk]

I didn't need to search for my surname! It was on the front page "Can you tell what it is yet?".....lol

The great family Smith is 'first' in all major cities of the English speaking world, yet curiously the greatest concentration of Smith's are in Aberdeenshire, Scotland! Why this should be so is far from clear. Not surprisingly the Smith name was one of the very first into the New American colonies, being held by the famous John Smith (1580 - 1631), explorer and writer, who helped to found the state of Virginia. He was reputedly saved from execution by Pocahontas, the Indian chief's daughter, who died in England in 1622.

Anyway, The missus surname originates from Cork but we already knew that, County Cork is where her Gran came to Scotland from

Interesting stuff