Show ContentsTraynor History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Irish names tend to vary widely in their spelling and overall form. The original Gaelic form of the name Traynor is Mac Threinfir, from the words trean, meaning strong, and fear meaning man. This name is often rendered MacTraynor or MacTreanor in English, but the Anglicizations Mac Crainor and MacCreanor are actually more phonetically accurate.

Early Origins of the Traynor family

The surname Traynor was first found in County Clare (Irish: An Clár) located on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat and were associated with the family of Armstrong which settled in that county from the English/Scottish border.

Early History of the Traynor family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Traynor research. Another 93 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Traynor History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Traynor Spelling Variations

Before widespread literacy came to Ireland, a name was often recorded under several different variations during the life of its bearer. Accordingly, numerous spelling variations were revealed in the search for the origin of the name Traynor family name. Variations found include Traynor, Trainor, Trayner and others.

Early Notables of the Traynor family

Notable among the family name at this time was

  • Traynor of Ulster

Traynor Ranking

In the United States, the name Traynor is the 8,158th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [1]


United States Traynor 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 Traynor or a variant listed above, including:

Traynor Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Margaret Traynor, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1747 [2]
Traynor Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Michael Traynor, aged 23, who landed in New York in 1812 [2]
  • Phillip Traynor, who settled in Delaware in 1833
  • Philip Traynor, aged 40, who landed in St Louis, Missouri in 1846 [2]
  • John Traynor, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1854 [2]
  • Owen Traynor, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1854 [2]
Traynor Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • George Traynor, who landed in Wisconsin in 1919 [2]
  • James Frank Traynor, who arrived in Wisconsin in 1920 [2]

Canada Traynor migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Traynor Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Peter Traynor, aged 40 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Lillian" departing 1st July 1847 from Dublin, Ireland; the ship arrived on 16th August 1847 but he died on board [3]

Australia Traynor migration to Australia +

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

Traynor Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Luke Traynor, aged 33, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "John Bunyan" [4]

Contemporary Notables of the name Traynor (post 1700) +

  • John "Jack" Traynor (b. 1987), American soccer player
  • John "Jay" Traynor (b. 1941), American musician, original lead singer of the band "Jay and the Americans"
  • Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor (1899-1972), American Major League Baseball third baseman
  • Philip Andrew Traynor, American dentist and politician who served two terms as U.S. Representative from Delaware
  • Donna Traynor, Irish journalist, the main female anchor of BBC Newsline
  • Oscar Traynor, Irish politician and revolutionary
  • Mr. James Traynor M.B.E., British Senior Officer for Child Exploitation and Online Protection at National Crime Agency, was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 29th December 2018 for services to Law Enforcement [5]
  • Robert Terence "Bobby" Traynor (b. 1983), English footballer
  • Paul Traynor (b. 1977), Canadian ice hockey player
  • Kyle Traynor (b. 1986), Scottish rugby union player
  • ... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hillsborough disaster
  • Martin Kevin Traynor (1972-1989), English apprentice joiner who was attending the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium, in Sheffield, Yorkshire when the stand allocated area became overcrowded and 96 people were crushed in what became known as the Hillsborough disaster and he died from his injuries [6]
  • Christopher James Traynor (1963-1989), English joiner who was attending the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium, in Sheffield, Yorkshire when the stand allocated area became overcrowded and 96 people were crushed in what became known as the Hillsborough disaster and he died from his injuries [6]
HMS Prince of Wales
  • Mr. William Etchel Traynor, British Stoker 2nd Class, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and died in the sinking [7]
RMS Lusitania
  • Mr. Philip Henry Traynor, Irish Trimmer from Derry, Ireland, who worked aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and died in the sinking [8]


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. 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)
  3. Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 97)
  4. South Australian Register Wednesday 24th May 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) John Bunyan 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/johnbunyan1854.shtml
  5. "Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists
  6. Hillsborough Victims (retreived 21st March 2021). Retreived from https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/15/remembering-96-victims-hillsborough-disaster-30-years-9206566/
  7. HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html
  8. Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 7) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/


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