McNama History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Surnames of Irish origin have experienced many changes in their spellings and forms. Before being translated into English, McNama appeared as Mac Conmara, which means "hound of the sea" or "warrior of the sea."

Early Origins of the McNama family

The surname McNama was first found in County Clare (Irish: An Clár) located on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where MacConmara or MacNamara was chief of the territory of Clan Caisin, now the barony of Tullagh. The family was also sometimes styled chiefs of Clan Cuilean; derived from Cuilean, one of their chiefs in the eighth century. This ancient family have traditionally held the high office of hereditary marshals of Thomond.

Early History of the McNama family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McNama research. Another 136 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1402, 1426, 1768, 1797 and 1826 are included under the topic Early McNama History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McNama Spelling Variations

Lacking standardized spellings, scribes and church officials recorded people's name according to how they sounded. This practice often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname McNama are preserved in the archival documents of the period. The various spellings of the name that were found include McNamara, McNamar, McNamarra, McNamard, Sheedy and many more.

Early Notables of the McNama family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

Admiral James McNamara (1768-1826)

McNama migration to the United States +

Many Irish families boarded ships bound for North America in the middle of 19th century to escape the conditions of poverty and racial discrimination at that time. Although these immigrants often arrived in a destitute state, they went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of the United States and Canada. An inquiry into many immigration and passenger lists has revealed many early immigrants to North America bearing the McNama family name:

McNama Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William McNama, who landed in New York, NY in 1816 1

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)