Finnegan
Ó Fionnagáin · descendant of Fionnagán
Finnegan is Ó Fionnagáin in Irish, said oh FIN-a-gawn, and means descendant of Fionnagán.
From fionn, fair: the little fair one, the opposite number to Flanagan. Finnegans Wake took the name from a ballad about a hod carrier, not from the family.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Fionnagáin
- His daughter: Ní Fhionnagáin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Fhionnagáin
- The family together: Uí Fhionnagáin
Where it comes from
Cavan, Monaghan and Roscommon
Also spelt
Finnegan, Finegan, Finnigan
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.