Moynihan — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Muimhneacháin
Meaning: 'the Munsterman'
Traditional stronghold: Cork, Kerry
Pronunciation: MOY-nih-han; Irish Ó Muimhneacháin: oh MWIV-nya-khawn
History of the Moynihan name
Moynihan is Ó Muimhneacháin, literally 'descendant of the Munsterman', a name that presumably arose when a family of Munster origin settled among strangers and was known by its provenance. In the event the Moynihans stayed at home: the name has always been concentrated on the Cork-Kerry border, around Killarney, Rathmore and the Muskerry country, and it remains strongly local there today. Emigration gave the name its greatest fame in America, above all through the New York senator and scholar Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of the towering Irish-American public figures of the twentieth century.
Variants: Minihan · Minihane · Moynahan
Famous bearers of the name
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan — Four-term US senator, ambassador and social scientist.
- Brian Moynihan — Irish-American chief executive of Bank of America.
- Berkeley Moynihan — Leeds surgeon of Irish stock, a founding figure of modern British surgery.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Sullivan · O'Connor · McCarthy · Daly · O'Connell · Collins · Fitzgerald