Kissane — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Ciosáin
Meaning: 'possibly from cíos (rent, tribute)'
Traditional stronghold: Kerry
Pronunciation: kiss-AWN; Irish Ó Ciosáin: oh KISS-aw-in
History of the Kissane name
Ó Ciosáin is a Munster name traditionally linked with cíos, meaning rent or tribute, though the derivation is not certain. Its heartland is County Kerry, particularly the districts around Killarney, Killorglin and the Iveragh peninsula, where Kissanes have farmed the mountain valleys for centuries; the Black Valley and the Gap of Dunloe are dotted with families of the name. In County Cork the same Irish surname was anglicised Cashman, so Kerry Kissanes and Cork Cashmans are frequently of the same stock, a point worth knowing for anyone tracing Munster ancestry. The name remains rare outside Munster and its emigrant communities.
Variants: Kissan · Cashman
Famous bearers of the name
- Éamonn Kissane — Kerry Fianna Fáil TD and parliamentary secretary in the de Valera governments.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Sullivan · O'Connor · McCarthy · O'Connell · Fitzgerald · O'Shea · Griffin · Kelleher