Ruane - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Ruadháin
Meaning: “red, red-haired”
Traditional stronghold: Galway, Mayo
Pronunciation: ROO-an; Irish O Ruadhain: oh ROO-awn
History of the Ruane name
Ruane comes from O Ruadhain, 'descendant of the red-haired one', from ruadh, red. The sept originated in County Galway, with a further concentration in neighbouring County Mayo, making the west of Ireland the historical and continuing heartland of the name. Like many colour-descriptive Gaelic surnames, it likely began as a physical nickname for a red-haired founding ancestor that then became fixed as a hereditary family name over subsequent generations. The name has remained close to its Gaelic form, without the drastic anglicised transformation seen in many other Irish surnames, and today it is still heavily concentrated in Mayo and Galway.
Variants: Rowan (in some instances) · O'Ruane
Famous bearers of the name
- Chris Ruane - British Labour Party politician of Irish heritage, MP for Vale of Clwyd
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Kelly · Walsh · Lynch · Connolly · Burke · Clarke · Hughes · Keane