Kearney
Ó Cearnaigh · descendant of Cearnach
Kearney is Ó Cearnaigh in Irish, said oh KAR-nee, and means descendant of Cearnach.
Cearnach means victorious, and it is the epithet of Conall Cearnach, one of the Red Branch heroes. In Connacht the same name is written Carney.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Cearnaigh
- His daughter: Ní Chearnaigh
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Chearnaigh
- The family together: Uí Chearnaigh
Where it comes from
Tipperary, Mayo and Meath
Also spelt
Kearney, O’Kearney, Carney, Karney
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.