Surname Kinnally - Meaning and Origin
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Kinnally: What does the surname Kinnally mean?
The last name Kinnally is of English origin and is derived from the personal name Cynwulf. The old English spelling of the personal name was Cynwyl and it can be translated to mean “royal wolf”. This originated from two elements: cin, meaning "royalty, high-born", and wulf, meaning wolf.
The surname generally referred to someone who was very closely related to the royal house, typically either a direct descendant of a king or a prominent and influential individual closely attached to the king’s court. Along with other names derived from the Cynwulf root, Kinnally was most prominent in the southern part of England, particularly in the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, and Parts of Kent.
The English surname Kinnally is known to have been in existence before the 19th century. In the 1881 census of England and Wales, there were over 1220 people bearing this surname. This surname is still around today and is particularly prevalent in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the US. It can be found as the third most common surname in County Mayo, Ireland.
Today, the Kinnally family continues to spread throughout the world, although it can be found in its largest concentrations in the countries mentioned above. While the meaning is still related to royalty and aristocracy, the surname has taken on a more general, everyday purpose that reflects its rich and powerful English root.
Order DNA origin analysisKinnally: Where does the name Kinnally come from?
The surname Kinnally is quite rare but has a rich history. The name is believed to have been derived from the Old Irish words Cinéal Óigh, meaning "descendants of Óig". As such, it is mainly found in Ireland.
The highest concentrations of the Kinnally surname today are in County Galway, located in the west of Ireland. Together with Dublin, these two locations account for over 85% of all occurrences of the surname in Ireland.
Within Europe, the Kinnally surname is also found in greater numbers in Northern Ireland and England. It has also spread to the United States and Canada, as many Irish immigrants have taken the name there in the 19th and 20thcentury.
As the Irish diaspora has spread, the surname has also been found in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. However, these occurrences are far less common than in the traditional Irish homelands.
Overall, the name Kinnally is quite uncommon today and, unsurprisingly, it is most commonly associated with those of Irish heritage. Put simply, if one is looking to find a Kinnally, they should start their search in Ireland and its diaspora.
Variations of the surname Kinnally
The surname Kinnally is an Irish surname that has a few different variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin. Kinnally is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Ó Cionnaith. The original Gaelic form of the name is Ó Cionnaith, and this can be further Anglicized to form other variant spellings such as Kinnelly, Kinnill, Kinill or Kinneally. It is believed that the Gaelic personal name used to form this surname derived from the word "cionn," which means generous or noble.
The surname Kinnally can also be found under the forms MacKinille, MacKinelly and MacKeneally, which are Anglicized renderings of the Gaelic Mac Cionnaith. This is derived from the Gaelic ‘mac’, which means ‘son of’, and Cionnaith, the personal name from which the family surname is derived.
Other variant spellings of the surname Kinnally include O’Connell, O’Kinnally, O’Keeffe, O’Kive and O’Kinneil. These last two may be derived from ‘mac Cionnaith’ as ‘mac’ most often becomes O’ or ‘Mac’ takes the form of ‘Kine’, and so it is thought that these variants could be derived from the same form as ‘Kinnally’.
There are many other variants of the name Kinnally that have been used over the centuries, as it is such a common Irish surname. Most of these variants are anglicized forms of the original Gaelic form of the name ‘Ó Cionnaith’. Many of them have since become extremely rare over time.
Famous people with the name Kinnally
- Shane Kinnally: Actor, model, and musician
- Mamie Kinnally: Singer and songwriter
- Raymond Joseph Kinnally: American politician
- Robert Kinnally: Irish-born American singer
- David Kinnally: Scottish MP
- John Kinnally: Welsh footballer
- Padraic Kinnally: Irish Singer-Songwriter
- Martin Kinnally: Irish cricketer
- Kelly Kinnally: American model
- Rebecca Kinnally: American artist
- Stephen Kinnally: Irish actor
- John Burke Kinnally: American politician
- Francis Joseph Kinnally: British politician
- Ryan Kinnally: American artist
- Pat Kinnally: American basketball coach
- Simon Kinnally: British barrister
- Molly Kinnally: American children’s rights activist
- David M. Kinnally: American politician
- Mark Kinnally: American actor
- Michael Kinnally: American singer