McHeney History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Etymology of McHeney

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

Early Origins of the McHeney family

Early History of the McHeney family

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

McHeney Spelling Variations

The spelling of names in Ireland during the Middle Ages was rarely consistent. This inconsistency was due to the scribes and church officials' attempts to record orally defined names in writing. The common practice of recording names as they sounded resulted in spelling variations such as Heaney, Heany, Hegney, Hegeany, Heagney, Heeney and others.

Early Notables of the McHeney family

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

Migration of the McHeney family

In the late 18th century, Irish families began emigrating to North America in the search of a plot of land to call their own. This pattern of emigration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s cause thousands of Irish to flee the death and disease that accompanied the disaster. Those that made it alive to the shores of the United States and British North America (later to become Canada) were, however, instrumental in the development of those two powerful nations. Many of these Irish immigrants proudly bore the name of McHeney: Charles, Daniel, Hugh, James, John, Patrick, Samuel and Thomas Heaney all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860; Bernard, James, John, Mathew, Nicholas and Phillip Heany arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860..