Brennan Surname Meaning and Origin

One of Irelands most frequent surnames, Brennan generally derived as a form of one of several Irish language surnames: From the Irish  Ãƒâ€œ Braonà ¡in, meaning descendant of  Braonà ¡n.  The Irish personal name Braonà ¡n is believed to mean sorrow, from the Irish  braon, meaning moisture or drop.From the Irish names Mac Branà ¡in and Ó Branà ¡in, both meaning descendant of Branà ¡n,  from the given name Branà ¡n, derived from  bran, meaning little raven. The Mac Branà ¡in were chiefs of a large territory in present-day County Roscommon, and many of the Brennan families in the counties of Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon descend from them. The OBrennans were chiefs of the  Uà ­ Duach sept located in northern Osraighe (Ossory), which  included all of county Kilkenny and part of county Laois. Brennan is one of 50 common Irish surnames of modern Ireland.   Surname Origin:  Irish Alternate Surname Spellings:  BRENNEN, MCBRENNAN, MACBRENNAN, BRANNON, BRANNAN, BRANNEN, BRANNIN, OBRAONAIN, BRANNY Where do People with the Surname BRENNAN Live? Irish Brennan families were very widespread, settling in Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, and Westmeath. According to WorldNames publicprofiler, individuals with the Brennan last name are now found in largest numbers in central Ireland, especially in County Sligo and the province of Leinster. The surname is much less common in Northern Ireland. Famous People with the Surname BRENNAN Walter Brennan - American actor, veteran of over 100 filmsWillie Brennan - Irish highwayman of legend, immortalized by Brennan on the MoorWilliam J. Brennan Jr. - former US Supreme Court justiceMaeve Brennan - Irish short story writer and journalist Genealogy Resources for the Surname BRENNAN The Brennans of ConnachtPat Brennan has put together a great deal of information on the origins of the Brennan surname, genealogies of early Brennan families, a list of MacBranan chiefs, and history of the families after the famine. British Surname Profiler - Distribution of the Brennan SurnameTrace the geography and history of the Brennan surname through this free online database based on a University College London (UCL) project investigating the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic. Brennan Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Brennan surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Brennan surname query. FamilySearch - BRENNAN GenealogyAccess over 1.9 million free historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Brennan surname and its variations. BRENNAN Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Brennan surname. DistantCousin.com - BRENNAN Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Brennan. -- Looking for the meaning of a given name? Check out First Name Meanings -- Cant find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins. ----------------------- References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back to Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins