Shine — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Seighin
Meaning: 'descendant of Seighín'
Traditional stronghold: Cork, Kerry
Pronunciation: SHYNE; Irish Ó Seighin: oh SHY-in
History of the Shine name
Ó Seighin is a Munster surname whose root personal name is obscure, possibly connected with ségainn, an old word for a graceful or accomplished person; the English form Shine is purely phonetic and has nothing to do with brightness. The name's homeland is north Kerry and the adjoining parts of Cork and Limerick, where it has been recorded since medieval times and where it remains concentrated today; it was never numerous enough to split into many branches, which makes it a useful marker for genealogists tracing Kerry and Cork roots. Emigration carried it to Britain, America and Australia, where one bearer's name is written into every genetics textbook.
Variants: Shyne · O'Shine
Famous bearers of the name
- Brendan Shine — Roscommon singer and accordionist, a fixture of Irish country music for five decades.
- John Shine — Australian molecular biologist, co-discoverer of the Shine-Dalgarno sequence in genetics.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Sullivan · O'Connor · McCarthy · Daly · O'Connell · Collins · Fitzgerald