Show ContentsO'Nunint History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

All Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name O'Nunint originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Nuadhain. The original Gaelic form of the name was Ó hIonmhaineain, which was originally derived from "ionmhain," meaning "beloved."

Early Origins of the O'Nunint family

The surname O'Nunint was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

"The name Noonan occurs chiefly in Cork, in which county the O'Noonans formerly dwelt.O'Noonan was a Chief in Duhallow Barony, and there were O'Noonans in Barrymore and Kinalea Baronies." 1

Early History of the O'Nunint family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Nunint research. Another 79 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1172 and 1341 are included under the topic Early O'Nunint History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Nunint 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 Noonan, O'Nunan, O'Noonan, Nunan, Neenan and others.

Early Notables of the O'Nunint family

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

Migration of the O'Nunint family

The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish migrating out of their homeland in a great measure due to the oppressive imperial policies of the English government and landowners. Many of these Irish families sailed to North America aboard overcrowded passenger ships. By far, the largest influx of Irish immigrants to North America occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. These particular immigrants were instrumental in creation of the United States and Canada as major industrial nations because the many essential elements such as the roadways, canals, bridges, and railways required an enormous quantity of cheap labor, which these poor immigrants provided. Later generations of Irish in these countries also went on to make valuable contributions in such fields as the arts, commerce, politics, and education. Extensive research into immigration and passenger lists has revealed many early immigrants bearing the name O'Nunint: James, John, and Patrick Nonan who arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1870; Bartholomew, Cornelius, Daniel, Edward, John, Judy, Michael, Peter, and Thomas Noonan all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1870.



  1. Matheson, Robert E., Special Report on Surnames in Ireland with Notes as to Numeric Strength, Derivation, Ethnology, and Distribution. Dublin: Alexander Thom & Co., 1894. Print


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