O'Kileen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland
• Scotland

Early Origins of the O'Kileen family

Early History of the O'Kileen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Kileen research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1180 and 1981 are included under the topic Early O'Kileen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Kileen Spelling Variations

Irish names recorded during the Middle Ages are characterized by many spelling variations. This preponderance of variations for common names can be explained by the fact that the scribes and church officials that kept records during that period individually decided how to capture one's name. These recorders primarily based their decisions on how the name was pronounced or what it meant. Research into the name O'Kileen revealed many variations, including Killeen, Killen, Killion, Killian, Killin, Gilin, Killan, Killoon, O'Killen, McKillen and many more.

Early Notables of the O'Kileen family

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

Migration of the O'Kileen family

Irish immigrants began to leave the English-controlled Ireland in sizable numbers during the late 18th century. Many of these Irish immigrated to British North America or the United States in the hopes of gaining their own tract of farmland. This pattern of migration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine caused a great exodus of immigrants to North America. These immigrants differed from their predecessors in that they were desperately fleeing the disease and starvation that plagued their homeland, and many were entirely destitute when they arrived in North America. Although these penniless immigrants were not warmly welcomed when they arrived, they were critical to the rapid development of the United States and what would become known as Canada. Many went to populate the western frontiers and others provided the cheap labor the new manufacturing sector and the building of bridges, roads, railways, and canals required. A thorough examination of immigration and passenger lists has revealed some of the earliest people to arrive in North America with name O'Kileen or one of its variants: Jenkins Killen, who settled in Virginia in 1805; Alexander, Denis, James, John, Patrick, and Robert Killen, who all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.