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Byrns History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Byrns History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

The surname Byrns was "O Broin," in its Gaelic form, which means descendant of Bran. The family is descended from Bran, the king of Leinster who died in 1052, who, along with King Conn of the Hundred Battles descended from Cathair Mor, an earlier king of Leinster, who was also monarch of all Ireland around 200 AD.

Early Origins of the Byrns family

The surname Byrns was first found in Leinster, where they were descended from Bran, the King of Leinster who died in 1052. 1 He was descended from Cathair Mor King of Leinster, who was also Monarch of all Ireland about 200 A.D. From this stem King Conn of the Hundred Battles was also descended. During the Strongbow invasion in 1172, the family, along with the O'Tooles, were driven from their original lands in county Kildare, settling the wilder territory between Rathdrum and Shillelagh, in south Wicklow.

"The O'Bymes anciently possessed the greater part of the Barony of Ballinacor, County Wicklow, and wore powerful Chiefs in that part of the country. Byrne is the leading name now in the Counties of Wicklow, Dublin, and Louth." 2

The sept increased in importance, and like their similarly displaced neighbors, were especially noted for their lengthy and tenacious resistance to the English invaders. Their successes in this struggle were numerous. Their military exploits of this time are celebrated in a compilation by some thirty-five authors of Gaelic poetry called the Leabhar Branch (Book of the O'Byrnes).1

Early History of the Byrns family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Byrns research. Another 35 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1544, 1574, 1580, 1591, 1597, 1598, 1744, 1775, 1799 and 1830 are included under the topic Early Byrns History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Byrns Spelling Variations

Irish names were rarely spelled consistently in the Middle Ages. Spelling variations of the name Byrns dating from that time include Byrne, Byrnes, O'Byrne, O'Byrnes and others.

Early Notables of the Byrns family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Nicol Burne (fl. 1574-1598), a Scottish Roman Catholic controversialist; Fiacha MacHugh O'Byrne (1544-1597), best remembered for helping in the escape of Hugh Roe O'Donnell from prison in Dublin Castle in...
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Byrns Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Byrns Ranking

In the United States, the name Byrns is the 17,016^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Byrns migration to the United States +

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Byrns or a variant listed above, including:

Byrns Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Stevens Byrns, aged 28, who landed in Georgia in 1812 4
Martin Byrns, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1816 4
Bernard Byrns, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pa, in 1823 4
James Byrns, who arrived in Texas in 1829 4
Felix Byrns, who landed in New York in 1831 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Byrns migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Byrns Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Ann Byrns, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1831

Byrns migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Byrns Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Margate Byrns, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Thirteen" in 1840 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Byrns (post 1700) +

Pauline Byrns (1917-1990), American singer
Samuel Byrns (1848-1914), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri (1891-1893)
Harold Byrns (1903-1977), born Hans Bernstein, German-born, American conductor and orchestrator, founder of the Los Angeles Chamber Symphony in 1949
Joseph Wellington Byrns Jr. (1903-1973), American attorney and politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee (1939-1941)
Joseph Wellington "Jo" Byrns Sr. (1869-1936), American politician, 46th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1935-1936), House Majority Leader (1933-1935)

The Byrns Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Certavi et vici
Motto Translation: I have fought and conquered.

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
Matheson, Robert E., Special Report on Surnames in Ireland with Notes as to Numeric Strength, Derivation, Ethnology, and Distribution. Dublin: Alexander Thom & Co., 1894. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) THIRTEEN 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Thirteen.gif