Rooney - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Ruanaidh
Meaning: “champion”
Traditional stronghold: Down
Pronunciation: ROO-nee; Irish Ó Ruanaidh: oh ROO-a-nee
History of the Rooney name
Ó Ruanaidh is generally taken to mean 'descendant of the champion'. The sept's homeland was at Ballyroney on the River Bann in County Down, and the family was noted in the Gaelic world for learning and poetry, serving the ruling Magennises of Iveagh. From Down the name spread through Ulster and north Connacht, and Rooney is today common in Dublin, Mayo and across the northern counties, with Roney and Rowney as occasional variants. Emigration made it a familiar Irish-American name, most famously through the Rooney family of Pittsburgh, founders of the Steelers football dynasty.
Variants: Roney · Rowney · O'Rooney
Famous bearers of the name
- William Rooney - Poet and nationalist who co-founded the United Irishman newspaper with Arthur Griffith.
- Dan Rooney - Owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and United States Ambassador to Ireland.
- Sally Rooney - Mayo-born novelist, author of Normal People.
- Wayne Rooney - Record goalscorer for England and Manchester United, of Irish descent.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murray · Garvey · Fitzsimons · Magennis · McCartan · Savage · Gillespie · Lowry