Keane
Ó Catháin · descendant of Cathán
Keane is Ó Catháin in Irish, said oh ka-HAWN, and means descendant of Cathán.
Cath means battle, so Cathán is the little battler. In Derry the name became O’Kane, in Clare and Galway it became Keane, and the two look unrelated in English.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Catháin
- His daughter: Ní Chatháin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Chatháin
- The family together: Uí Chatháin
Where it comes from
Derry, Clare and Galway
Also spelt
Keane, O’Kane, Kane, Cahane
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.