Show ContentsGuiny History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Irish name Guiny was originally written in a Gaelic form as Ó Coinne, which means descendant of Coinneach. The personal name Coinneach was often Anglicized to Canice or Kenny.

Early Origins of the Guiny family

The surname Guiny was first found in County Tyrone (Irish:Tír Eoghain), the ancient territory of the O'Neills, now in the Province of Ulster, central Northern Ireland, where they held a family seat from ancient times. They were directly descended from King Colla da Crioch, the Irish King of Ulster, who was banished to Scotland with 350 Clann chiefs in the year 327.

Early History of the Guiny family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Guiny research. Another 114 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1585, 1589, 1662, 1663 and 1682 are included under the topic Early Guiny History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Guiny Spelling Variations

The Middle Ages saw a great number of spelling variations for surnames common to the Irish landscape. One reason for these variations is the fact that surnames were not rigidly fixed by this period. The following variations for the name Guiny were encountered in the archives: Quinney, Guinney, Guiney, Gunny, Gunie, Gunney, O'Quinney, O'Guinney and many more.

Early Notables of the Guiny family

Another 44 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Guiny Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Guiny migration to the United States +

Death and immigration greatly reduced Ireland's population in the 19th century. For the native Irish people poverty, hunger, and racial prejudice was common. Therefore, thousands left their homeland to seek opportunity in North America. Those who survived the journey and the quarantine camps to which they arrived, were instrumental towards building the strong developing nations of the United States and the future Canada. By far, the largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. These were employed as construction or factory workers. An examination of passenger and immigration lists has shown early immigrants bearing the name Guiny:

Guiny Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Daniel Guiny, who arrived in New York in 1850 1


  1. 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)


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