Is mcnamee a scottish name or irish?

Question

Is mcnamee a scottish name or irish?

Answer 1

irish

Answer 2

McNamee: Irish: Anglicised form of the Gaelic Mac Conmidhe, Mac Conmeadha, patronymic from a personal name meaning 'Hound of Meath'.

N.B. 'dh' in Gaelic is silent

There's also info here: http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?na...

I hope that helps you :)

Answer 3

Scottish. Names beginning with Mc generally are Scottish.

Answer 4

It gets slightly complicated.

The original inhabitants of what is now Ireland were the Scots.

Scotland was mainly inhabited by the Picts (Pictish people).

As Anglesey, Liverpool and the Giants Causeway can easily be seen in fine weather from Ireland they was some steady traffic of people between the two places.

As the Picts were pushed further North and became 'highlanders' there was an influx of Scots from Ireland to Alba - the old name for Scotland.

Hence you can probably trace many origins to either of those two places.

Scottish tradition has Mac/Mc for 'Son of' and Nic- for 'Daughter of'

Irish tradition has Mac/Mc, O' and Fitz- for 'Son of'

Very good Wiki article on the heritage of the area:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_ethni...

Which is why there is often confusion among people of those islands, both great and small - you could quite easily commute in a coracle (small round 'rowing' boat) between the two places.

This is probably why the modern day Ireland/Eire, Wales and Scotland have such strong personal identities compared with the much larger neighbour, England.

A friend traced their 'English' ancestory from London through Wales, to Ireland and Scotland - making them truly British!

Answer 5

Its Oirish

Answer 6

This is what I found for you.

Surname: Mcnamee

This famous Irish clan name recorded as MacNamee and the short form McNamee, is a nickname. It derives from the Old Gaelic 'Mac Con Midhe' which translates as 'The son of the hound of Meath'. This seems a strange naming even by Irish standards, as the clan were hereditary poets! Perhaps there was once some allegorical connection between poetry and fast moving hound dogs, although it is stretching the imagination to think what this could be. What is certain is that Ireland in the days of the Nine Kings was a land of great learning and high academic standards, far in advance of the Anglo-Saxons and the later Viking and Normans who invaded both Britain and Ireland in the 5th to the 11th centuries. The original clan was Ulster based and were close followers of the O'Neills, the principal rulers of Northern Ireland, and they suffered with the O'Neills in their support of the Catholic King James 11 of England and Ireland. Brian Mac Angus MacNamee, was chief poet to Luineach O'Neill, and died in 1595, whilst a branch of the same family was recorded in Foyle in 1606. As this was far from their original homelands, it suggests that they were exiled there after the abortive rebellions of 1598 - 1603. Amongst the many nameholders of considerable importance was Teige oge MacConmea of Neadenurry, County Clare, in 1602, and Charles MacNamee in the muster of regimental officers in the army of King James in 1689. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Giolla Bridghe Mac Con Midhe, which was dated 1260, the annals of the poets of Ireland, during the reign of King Henry 111 of England, 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Hope this helps.