Show ContentsHeint History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Heint

What does the name Heint mean?

The Irish surnames in use today are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Heint originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó hEighnigh. 1

Early Origins of the Heint family

The surname Heint was first found in County Londonderry (Irish: Doire), a Northern Irish county also known as Derry, in the province of Ulster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Heint family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heint research. Another 91 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Heint History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Heint Spelling Variations

The search for the origins of the name Heint family name revealed numerous spelling variations. These variants can be somewhat accounted for when it is realized that before widespread literacy people only recognized their name by pronunciation; it was up to scribes to decide how it was to be formally recorded. Variations found include Heaney, Heany, Hegney, Hegeany, Heagney, Heeney and others.

Early Notables of the Heint family

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


Heint migration to the United States +

Ireland saw an enormous decrease in its population in the 19th century due to immigration and death. This pattern of immigration began slowly in the late 18th century and gradually grew throughout the early portion of the 19th century. However, a dramatic increase in the country's immigration numbers occurred when the Great Potato Famine struck in the 1840s. The early immigrants to North America were primarily destined to be farmers tending to their own plot of land, those that came later initially settled within pre-established urban centers. These urban immigrants provided the cheap labor that the fast developing United States and soon to be Canada required. Regardless of their new lifestyle in North America, the Irish immigrants to the United States and Canada made invaluable contributions to their newly adopted societies. An investigation of immigrant and passenger lists revealed many Heints:

Heint Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • William Heint, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 2


  1. MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
  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)


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