Traynor - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Thréinfhir
Meaning: “son of the strong man”
Traditional stronghold: Armagh, Monaghan
Pronunciation: TRAY-ner; Irish Mac Thréinfhir: mock HRAYN-yir
History of the Traynor name
Traynor is Mac Thréinfhir, 'son of the strong man' (tréan, 'strong', plus fear, 'man'), a sept of the old kingdom of Oriel, historically concentrated in Armagh and Monaghan with a strong presence in Tyrone. The name has nothing to do with the English occupational word 'trainer', though the resemblance shaped its anglicised spellings, which include Treanor, Trainor and Trainer; Treanor remains the favoured form around Monaghan, Traynor around Dublin and Trainor in Ulster. Like many Oriel families the Traynors were not great territorial lords but survived the plantations in place, and the name is still strongly associated with the borderlands of south Ulster.
Variants: Treanor · Trainor · Trainer · McCreanor
Famous bearers of the name
- Oscar Traynor - Commander of the Dublin Brigade IRA in 1916-21, later a long-serving Fianna Fáil minister and president of the FAI.
- Tommy Traynor - Dublin-born Southampton full-back who won caps for the Republic of Ireland in the 1950s and 60s.
- Des Traynor - Accountant and banker whose secret Ansbacher deposits became one of Ireland's landmark financial scandals.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · Connolly · Duffy · McMahon · McKenna · McCabe · Garvey · O'Hanlon