All Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name Shen originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Seain, which translates as son of John.
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Early Origins of the Shen family
The surname Shen was first found in County Kerry (Irish:Ciarraí) part of the former County Desmond (14th-17th centuries), located in Southwestern Ireland, in Munster province, where they were granted lands by Strongbow when he invaded Ireland in 1172.
Early History of the Shen family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shen research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1750 is included under the topic Early Shen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Shen 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 McShane, McShain, McShaen, MacShane, MacShain, MacShaen, MacCheyne, McCheyne, McSheyne, MacSheyne, McCheine, McChain, MacCheine, MacChain, McChein, McShaney, McShanie and many more.
Early Notables of the Shen family
More information is included under the topic Early Shen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Shen Ranking
the United States, the name Shen is the 10,565th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1
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Migration of the Shen 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 Shen: John and Joseph McShain settled in Philadelphia in 1860.
