Finnan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland
England

The roots of the Finnan surname in Ireland are somewhat unclear; it seems that the name was both native Irish Gaelic, and Norman. The Gaelic name "ó Fionnáin" seems to be derived from Gaelic word "fionn, "which means "fair." This Gaelic name has been Anglicized as Finan and Fanning, both of which are also Norman names that came to Ireland in the 12th century.

Early Origins of the Finnan family

The surname Finnan was first found in County Mayo (Irish: Maigh Eo) located on the West coast of the Republic of Ireland in the province of Connacht, where they were of the Hy Fiachrach Sept. One notable bearer of the personal name who lived several centuries prior to the introduction of hereditary surnames was St. Finan (Finan of Lindisfarne) who died in 661 AD, and achieved repute for his missionary work in England. He was Bishop of Lindisfarne (651-661) and he converted the kings Sigebert of Essex and Peada of the Middle Angles to Christianity. 1

Early History of the Finnan family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Finnan research. Another 63 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1659, 1847 and 1901 are included under the topic Early Finnan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Finnan Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Finan, O'Finan, Ofinan, Finane and others.

Early Notables of the Finnan family

More information is included under the topic Early Finnan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Finnan migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Finnan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Martin Finnan, aged 48, who arrived in New York in 1812 2
Thomas Finnan, who arrived in New York State in 1846
Jim Finnan, who landed in New York, NY in 1850 2
Timothy Finnan, who arrived in New York, NY in 1850 2
Thomas Finnan, who landed in America in 1853 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Finnan (post 1700) +

Henry Finnan, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Rensselaer County 2nd District, 1920 3
Aengus Finnan (b. 1972), Canadian/Irish born, folk singer

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html