Show ContentsMcCreanor 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 McCreanor 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 McCreanor family

The surname McCreanor 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 McCreanor family

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

McCreanor 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 McCreanor were encountered in the archives: Traynor, Trainor, Trayner and others.

Early Notables of the McCreanor family

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

Migration of the McCreanor family

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the McCreanor family came to North America quite early: William Trainor who settled in Admiral's Cove, Newfoundland, from Portsmouth, Hampshire in the 17th century; Bernard, Francis, Henry, Hugh, James, John, and Michael Trainor, all settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1838 and 1878.


Contemporary Notables of the name McCreanor (post 1700) +

  • Trudy McCreanor, American director of the Mendocino Ballet, a dance company in Mendocino County, California
  • Deb McCreanor, Canadian curling skip in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2011, 2012 and 2013 from La Salle, Manitoba


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