Show ContentsSheneman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

All Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name Sheneman originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Seain, which translates as son of John.

Early Origins of the Sheneman family

The surname Sheneman 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 Sheneman family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sheneman research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1750 is included under the topic Early Sheneman History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sheneman Spelling Variations

The recording of names in Ireland in the Middle Ages was an inconsistent endeavor at best. The many regional dialects and the predominate illiteracy would have made common surnames appear unrelated to the scribes of the period. Research into the name Sheneman revealed spelling variations, including McShane, McShain, McShaen, MacShane, MacShain, MacShaen, MacCheyne, McCheyne, McSheyne, MacSheyne, McCheine, McChain, MacCheine, MacChain, McChein, McShaney, McShanie and many more.

Early Notables of the Sheneman family

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

Migration of the Sheneman 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 Sheneman: John and Joseph McShain settled in Philadelphia in 1860.


Contemporary Notables of the name Sheneman (post 1700) +

  • Walter E. Sheneman (1917-1974), American politician, Mayor of Winfield, Kansas, 1956 [1]


  1. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 2) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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