Noone — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O Nuadhain
Meaning: 'descendant of Nuadha' (an old mythological personal name)
Traditional stronghold: Galway, Mayo
Pronunciation: NOON; Irish O Nuadhain: oh NOO-a-hawn
History of the Noone name
Noone derives from O Nuadhain, based on the personal name Nuadha, a figure of considerable importance in early Irish mythology as a king of the Tuatha De Danann, whose name carried associations of kingship and, in some traditions, healing. The sept was located in County Mayo and County Galway in Connacht, where the surname remains most heavily concentrated to the present day. Noone kept close to its Gaelic form, without the wholesale substitution of an unrelated English surname seen in some anglicisations, and it is generally recognised as a distinctly west-of-Ireland name, rarer outside Connacht and its neighbouring counties.
Variants: Noon · O'Noone
Famous bearers of the name
- Peter Noone — English singer of Irish descent, lead singer of Herman's Hermits
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Kelly · Walsh · Lynch · Connolly · Burke · Clarke · Hughes · Keane