McKee Family Crest, Coat of Arms & McKee Name Origin

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Origin of the Name McKee

The ancient history of the name McKee was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. The Gaelic surname McAodha, signifying the son of Aodh, meaning 'Hugh', has acquired in the process of anglicization a great number of variants. These include McKay, McCoy, Hughes, Hewson, Eason, McHugh, Keyes and also McKee. McHugh is the form used by the Connacht sept which is of the same stock as the O'Flahertys. They were chiefs of the territory known as the barony of Clare in County Galway . In 1585 at the time of the Cromwellian settlement they were landowners in County Galway . Today they are found all around that area and even beyond it as far North as Counties Leitrim and Fermanagh. The names McKee and Keyes are numerous in Counties Antrim, Down and Armagh as was evidenced in the 1659 Census. In Ulster Province McKee and Kee can also be variants of the name MacKay, which was introduced by settlers from England and Scotland , especially during the seventeenth century.