Kennedy
Ó Cinnéide · descendant of Cinnéidigh
Kennedy is Ó Cinnéide in Irish, said oh kin-AY-jeh, and means descendant of Cinnéidigh.
Ceann éidigh means ugly head, or helmeted head if you prefer. Brian Boru’s father was Cinnéidigh, so the Kennedys and the O’Briens are the same stock.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Cinnéide
- His daughter: Ní Chinnéide
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Chinnéide
- The family together: Uí Chinnéide
Where it comes from
Tipperary, from Clare
Also spelt
Kennedy, O’Kennedy, Canady
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.