MacHany History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Etymology of MacHany

What does the name MacHany mean?

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

Early Origins of the MacHany family

The surname MacHany 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 MacHany family

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

MacHany Spelling Variations

Scribes and church officials, lacking today's standardized spelling rules, recorded names by how they were pronounced. This imprecise guide often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname MacHany are preserved in documents of the family history. The various spellings of the name that were found include Heaney, Heany, Hegney, Hegeany, Heagney, Heeney and others.

Early Notables of the MacHany family

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

MacHany migration to the United States +

A massive wave of Irish immigrants hit North America during the 19th century. Although many early Irish immigrants made a carefully planned decision to leave left Ireland for the promise of free land, by the 1840s immigrants were fleeing a famine stricken land in desperation. The condition of Ireland during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s can be attributed to a rapidly expanding population and English imperial policies. Those Irish families that arrived in North America were essential to its rapid social, industrial, and economic development. Passenger and immigration lists have revealed a number of early Irish immigrants bearing the name MacHany:

MacHany Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Machany, who landed in Virginia in 1664 2

Sources +

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