Origin
Clare : 1: Irish (Clare Wicklow and Wexford): habitational name from Clare in Suffolk (an eastern county of England) the center of a major Norman baronial estate since the Norman Conquest. The English placename probably originated as a Celtic river name meaning ‘bright gentle or warm’. The surname is not from the Irish county name Clare which is either from the surname or from a place called with Gaelic clár ‘plank bridge’. Another Norman surname in the southeast of Ireland was de Clere from Clères in Seine-Maritime (France) named from the local river.2: English and French: from the Middle English Old French female personal name Cla(i)re (from Latin Clara from clarus ‘clear bright famous’) which achieved some popularity greater elsewhere in Europe than in England through the fame of Saint Clare of Assisi (see Chiara). The English surname seems to have been interchangeable with Clear 1.3: English: occupational name from an agent derivative of Middle English cley ‘clay’. The work of medieval clayers involved plastering a framework of interwoven twigs with mud to produce wattle-and-daub work.4: Americanized form of German Kler and probably also of French Clair or Claire.
Baskin : 1: Irish: Anglicized form of Irish Ó Baiscinn from the personal name Bascaoin meaning ‘fair of hand’. The surname arose from a historical population group called Corca Bhaiscinn ‘seed of Bascaoin’ in west County Clare and is independent of the Norman name (see 3 below).2: English (of Norman origin): from the Middle English personal name Baskin a borrowing of Flemish or Picard Basequin a pet form of Base (ancient Germanic Baso perhaps meaning ‘purple’) + the diminutive suffix -kin. It could also have been used as a pet form of Old French Basile. See Bass.3: Jewish (from Belarus and Ukraine): metronymic formed with the Slavic possessive suffix -in from the Yiddish female personal name Baske a pet form of the Biblical name Bath Seba under the influence of Polish Basia a pet form of Barbara.
Bennis : 1: Dutch: patronymic from the personal name Benne a shortened form of Bernhard formed with the possessive -s (‘Benne's son’).2: Dutch: name for a member of the Baptist religious sect known in the Netherlands as benists from men(n)ist the name for a follower of the priest Menno Simons (approx 1496–1561).3: English (London) and Irish (Limerick and Clare): variant of Benns.
Bindon : English and Irish: habitational name from Bindon in Axmouth Devon or Bindon in Wool Dorset. A member of the family settled in Ireland and the name Bindon became fairly common in County Clare.
Cardiff : Welsh and Irish: habitational name from the Welsh city of Cardiff in Glamorgan named with Welsh caer ‘fort’ + the genitive singular of the river name Taf from Welsh taf ‘water stream’. The name was taken to Ireland in or shortly after 1171 following the acquisition of the kingdom of Leinster by ‘Strongbow’ (Richard de Clare Earl of Pembroke) and of Dublin by Henry II who granted the city to the burgesses of Bristol. The surname was Gaelicized as de Carduibh.
Cashell : Irish (of Norman origin): variant of Cassell. In Clare it is also a shortened Anglicized form of Irish Ó Maolchaisil ‘descendant of the chief of Cashel’.
Chiara : Italian: from the female personal name Chiara or Clara a name popularized in the medieval period by the cult of Saint Clare of Assisi (c. 1193–1253); she was an associate of Saint Francis of Assisi and founded the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares. See also Chiaro.
Claire : 1: Irish: variant of Clare.2: Variant of Clair an altered form of German Klare.3: French: variant of Clair.4: French: from the female personal name Claire (feminine form of Clair) which was popularized through the fame of St. Clare of Assisi (see Chiara).
Clarence : 1: English: apparently from the name of the royal dukedom created in 1362 for Lionel the third son of Edward III who had married the heiress of the estate of Clare in Suffolk. It is a conventional rendering in French of the placename used in parallel with its conventional name in Latin Clarentia. These names are originally those of a similarly named city founded in the 13th century by the Norman Villehardouin dynasty in the Peloponnese Greece whose site is now called Glarentza and its application to Clare in Suffolk is a kind of toponymic pun. Formally the name is a parallel based on clarus ‘brilliant illustrious’ for other auspicious Latin names like Florentia as if ‘flourishing (place)’ and Valentia as if ‘strong healthy (place)’. The surname may simply have originated as a French habitational name for someone from Clare but playing on the ducal title or possibly for a man in one of the early dukes' service.2: French: variant of Clarens a habitational name from a place so named (Hautes-Pyrénées Gers).
Clarkin : 1: English (Lancashire and Cheshire): from a pet form of the personal name Clare (compare Clare and Clear) which is both a masculine and a female personal name in Middle English.2: Irish (Monaghan): variant of Clerkin.
Considine : Irish (Clare): shortened Anglicized form of Mac Consaidín ‘son of Consaidín’ Gaelic form of Constantine. This name is borne by a branch of the O'Briens in County Clare.
Cooley : 1: Irish (Galway and Clare): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Chúille ‘son of the servant of (Saint) Mochúille’ a rare Clare name or a shortened form of McCooley a variant of McCauley.2: English: perhaps a variant of Colley or Culley.3: Americanized form of German Kuhle or Kühle variants of Kuhl.
Creagh : Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Craobhach Ó Craobhaigh ‘descendant of Craobhach’ a byname meaning ‘curly(-headed)’ or ‘prolific’ (from craobh ‘branch bough’); see Cray 1. This is an epithet of the O'Neills of Clare one of whose ancestors is said to have carried a green branch into battle.
Davern : Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Dábhoireann ‘descendant of Dábhoireann’. The original form of this name was Dubhdábhoireann ‘black one of the two burrens’ (from dubh ‘black’ + dá ‘two’ + boireann) apparently denoting The Burren a rocky area in the north of County Clare. The family was famed for its learning and ran a literary and legal school in County Clare.
Dinan : 1: Irish (now mainly counties Clare and Cork): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Daghnáin ‘descendant of Daghnán’ possibly a diminutive of dagh ‘good’.2: Irish: variant of Dineen.3: French: habitational name from Dinan in Côtes-d'Armor Brittany. This surname is very rare in France.
Downes : 1: English (Shropshire and Staffordshire): variant of Down with plural or post-medieval excrescent -s.2: Irish (counties Clare and Limerick): shortened Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Dubháin (see Doane).
Droney : Irish (especially eastern County Clare): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Dróna ‘descendant of Dróna’ an unexplained personal name.
Goodeve : from the Middle English female personal name Godyeve Godive Godif (Old English Godgifu ‘god God’ + ‘gift’ latinized as Godiva). It became confused with another Middle English female personal name Godith (Old English Godgȳð); see Goodey and compare Godyf widow of John Clare alias Goditha Clare de Strode in Assize Rolls (Kent).occasionally perhaps from Middle English godwif ‘virtuous woman; mistress of a household’ often used as a courtesy title for married women of relatively humble social status. Compare Hussey (3) (from hus(e)wif) and Goodman. For obvious reasons it was mainly borne by women such as Nota Godwyf 1311 in Colchester Court Rolls and Margaret Godewyf 1374 in Feet of Fines (Hunts). The bearing of the name by a man such as John Godewyf 1413 in Patent Rolls (Glatton Hunts) can be explained either as an ironic nickname or perhaps through being surnamed from the mother's title. Alternatively because goodwife was generally reduced to goody(f) the relationship name in (i) may have re-etymologized as ‘goodwife’ and Godewyf and Goodwife as hereditary surnames are hypercorrections of Goodiff and Goodeve.
Goodey : 1: from the Middle English salutation godne dæie about 1205 godun dai about 1250 god dai after 1300 (OED) ‘(have a God give you a) good day!’. Compare Haggerty (2) and the salutation ‘good morrow’ in Walter Godemorwe (Godemorwen) 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Essex). Some of the following bearers may alternatively belong with (2) -3 or (4).possibly in some instances from Middle English god(e) day(e) (or dey(e)) ‘good dairy man’ (see Day). 2: from Middle English god(e) ‘good’ + hei(e) ‘enclosed plot field’ (Old English gōd + (ge)hæg) for someone who lived ‘(at the) good enclosure’. Compare Goodacre Goodfield. 3: variant of Goodeve whether from the Middle English female personal name Godive or from the word goodwife goody. 4: from a reduced form of the Middle English female personal name Godith Old English Godgȳð (‘god God’ + ‘battle’). Compare Johanne Godithson 1379 in Poll Tax (Scarisbrick with Hurlston Lancs). It was sometimes confused with Goodeve in (3) as in William Godith(e) Godyth Gwodyf 1317 in Assize Rolls (Kent). Godyf widow of John Clare is also called Goditha Clare de Strode in Assize Rolls (Kent). Examples of Goody and Goodie below may alternatively belong with (1) or (3).
Goonan : Irish: from Ó Gamhnáin ‘son of Gamhnán’ a personal name based on a diminutive of gamhna ‘calf’. This name has been Anglicized as Gunning in County Clare and occasionally as Caulfield in Connacht.
Gunning : 1: English (of Norman origin): from the Middle English personal name Gundewin (ancient Germanic Gund(e)win).3: Dutch: variant of Gunnink.2: Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Conaing ‘descendant of Conaing’ a personal name a borrowing of Anglo-Saxon cyning ‘king’. In Clare sometimes adopted for Ó Gamhnáin see Goonan.
Hickman : 1: English (Staffordshire): from the Middle English personal names Hikeman Hicheman and (in the West Midlands) Hikemon and Hichemon pet forms of Hike and Hiche with the hypocoristic suffix -man or -mon. See Hick and Hitch. In some instances however Hikeman and Hicheman might be occupational names denoting a ‘servant of Hike or Hiche’. This surname has long been established in Ireland notably in County Clare.2: Americanized form of German Hickmann.
Holloran : Irish (Galway and Clare): variant of Halloran.
Hynes : 1: Irish (Galway and Clare) and English: variant of Hines.2: Americanized form of German Heins or Heinz.
Kierce : Perhaps an altered form of Irish Kierse itself a variant found in County Clare of (Mac)Kerrisk Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Fhiarais ‘son of Fiaras’ Gaelic form of Piers. Compare Ferrick and Kerce.
Laughlin : 1: Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Lochlainn ‘descendant of Lochlann’ a personal name meaning ‘stranger’ originally a term denoting Scandinavia (a compound of loch ‘lake fjord’ + lann ‘land’). Many Irish bearers of the name claim descent from Lochlann a 10th century lord of Corcomroe County Clare.2: Scottish: from Scottish Gaelic Mac Lachlainn ‘son of Lachlann’ from the personal name Lachlann earlier Lochlann (as in 1 above). See also McLachlan.
Malbrough : 1: English: habitational name from Malborough (Devon) or Marlborough (Wiltshire). The Wiltshire placename is from an unattested Old English personal name Mǣrla or Old English meargealla ‘gentian’ + beorg ‘hill mound’.2: Irish: possibly a variant of the County Clare surname Malborough Marlborough which MacLysaght considers to be probably an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Maoilbhearaigh (see Mulberry 2).3: Perhaps also an Americanized form of German Malburg.
Malone : Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Maoil Eoin ‘descendant of the devotee of (Saint) John’. This is the name of an ecclesiastical family at Clonmacnoise. MacLysaght says that in County Clare there has been some confusion with Muldoon.
Markham : 1: English: habitational name from Markham Clinton or East Markham (Nottinghamshire). The placename derives from Old English mearc ‘mark boundary’ + hām ‘village homestead’ or hamm ‘water meadow’.2: Irish: English surname used as an equivalent of Gaelic Ó Marcacháin ‘descendant of Marcachán’ a diminutive of Marcach ‘horseman rider’ (see Markey). This was originally a Galway surname but is now found mainly in Clare sometimes translated into English as Ryder.
McGlone : Irish:: 1: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Eóin ‘son of the devotee of (Saint) John’. Compare Monday McLean and McAloon.2: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Glúin a patronymic from the personal name Glún. This is either a byname meaning ‘knee’ or else a short form of various Old Irish compound personal names such as Glúnfhionn meaning ‘fair-kneed’ or Glúniairn ‘iron-kneed’. A Clare surname usually shortened to Clune.
McMahon : Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Mathghamhna a patronymic from the byname Mathghamhain literally meaning ‘good calf’ a kenning for ‘bear’. This was the name of two (unrelated) chieftain families in counties Clare (Thomond) and Monaghan (the kingdom of Oriel). See also Mahon 1 and Mahoney. In northern Ireland it is sometimes Anglicized as Matthews since Matha was the Irish form of the Biblical name (see McMath). In Scotland Matheson was used to translate both of these surnames.
McMurrough : Irish:: 1: Anglicized form (in Leinster) of Mac Murchadha ‘son of Murchadh’ a personal name meaning ‘sea warrior’. The spelling gh indicates the original guttural fricative sound of the internal -ch-. Elsewhere in Roscommon and Tyrone the usual Anglicized form was Murphy (the same phonetic change as in English laugh cough etc.). Diarmait Mac Murchadha (Dermot McMurrough) was intermittently king of Leinster from 1126–71. After being deposed in 1166 he requested help from Henry II to reclaim his kingdom which resulted in the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 under the leadership of Richard de Clare Earl of Pembroke (known as ‘Strongbow’) an event that brought many Anglo-Norman surnames to Ireland. A powerful Irish family of this lineage were also known as Kavanagh after Dermot's son.2: Anglicized form (in Leinster) of Mac Murchadha ‘son of Murchadh’ a personal name meaning ‘sea warrior’. A powerful family of this name were also known as Kavanagh. The spelling gh indicates the original guttural fricative sound of the internal -ch-. Elsewhere (especially in Roscommon and Tyrone) the usual Anglicized form of the Irish name was Murphy.
Neenan : Irish (Cork and Clare): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Naoidheannáin ‘descendant of Naoidheanán’ from naoidheán ‘infant’ often now assimilated to Noonan.
Normile : Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Confhormaoile a patronymic from Cú Fhormaoile a personal name meaning ‘hound of Formoyle’ a place in County Clare.
O'Halloran : Irish (Limerick and Clare): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hAllmhuráin ‘descendant of Allmhurán’ a personal name from a diminutive of allmhurach ‘foreigner’ (from all ‘beyond’ + muir ‘sea’). See Halloran.
Organ : 1: English (West and southwestern England): from the Middle English male or female personal name Organ(e) possibly derived from 2.2: English: metonymic occupational name for a player or maker of a wind or stringed musical instrument from Middle English (Old French) organ (from Late Latin organum ‘device (musical) instrument’ Greek organon ‘tool’ from ergein ‘to work or do’) in particular the portable organ.3: Irish (Waterford Clare): from Ó hArgáin see Horgan.4: In some cases possibly also French: habitational name from a place in the Hautes-Pyrénées named Organ.
Pembroke : English and Irish: habitational name from Pembroke (Welsh Penfro from Welsh pen ‘end’ + brog ‘land’) in southwest Wales. Pembroke Castle was of strategic importance in medieval and Tudor times because of its commanding position at the western end of the Bristol Channel and its control of seaborne traffic between Britain and the south of Ireland. It was from Pembroke that Richard de Clare Earl of Pembroke nicknamed ‘Strongbow’ launched an expedition to Wexford in 1169–70 which brought many English and Welsh surnames to Ireland.
Quinn : Irish:: 1: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coinn earlier spelled Ó Cuinn ‘descendant of Conn’ a personal name meaning ‘wisdom’ or ‘chief’ (see O'Quinn). This is the name of several families in Ulster and counties Clare Longford and Mayo.2: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coinne ‘descendant of Coinne’ a personal name which may be a variant of Coinneach (see also McKenzie). This is an Ulster surname a sept deriving from Eoghan son of Niall Naoighiallach from whom Tyrone is named. In most cases the Anglicized forms cannot be distinguished from sense 1 above although final -e may have been intended as syllabic.
Roughan : 1: from Ó Ruadhacháin ‘son of Ruadhachán’ a personal name from a diminutive of ruadh ‘red’ (also used as a place-name and anglicized as Roughan). Compare also Rogan (Ó Ruadhagáin) which may be a variant both it and Ó Ruadhacháin being found in Ulster and Connacht.from Ó Robhacháin name of a scattered ecclesiastical family found in Clare in the 16th and 17th centuries. The personal name was earlier Reabhachán ‘skilful artful’. See also Rohan. 2: see Rougham.
Rowan : 1: Irish: from Ó Ruadháin or Ó Ruaidhín both meaning ‘descendant of Ruadhán’ a personal name from a diminutive of ruadh ‘red’. See also Rooney.2: Irish: from Ó Ruadhacháin ‘son of Ruadhachán’ a personal name from a diminutive of ruadh ‘red’ (also used as a placename and Anglicized as Roughan). Compare also Rogan (Ó Ruadhagáin) of which may be a variant both it and Ó Ruadhacháin being found in Ulster and Connacht.3: Irish: from Ó Robhacháin the name of a scattered ecclesiastical family found in Clare in the 16th and 17th centuries. The personal name was earlier Reabhachán ‘skillful artful’.4: Scottish: variant of Rowland. Rowand was a common Scottish pronunciation of Rowland giving the variants Rowand and Rowan.
Scanlon : Irish (Kerry and Clare): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Scannláin ‘descendant of Scannlán’ a personal name formed from a diminutive of Scannal (see Scannell).
Shannon : Irish:: 3: shortened form of Shanahan.1: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Seanáin ‘descendant of Seanán’ a personal name based on a pet form of seán ‘old’. This Irish surname became established in Scotland in the 14th century.2: in County Clare a shortened Anglicized form of Mac Giolla tSeanáin ‘son of the servant of St. Seanán’. In the Irish midlands Leonard and Nugent have been adopted as equivalents of this name.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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