Origin of the Name Gainey
The origin of the name
Gainey was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Gainey
include Gaine, O'Geaney and Geane. This name in Irish is O'Geibheannaigh and the latter variants are anglicized forms of this. This sept came from Cork and Kerry .
A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
The prefix 'O' has been dropped from this name with the form Geaney being found mainly in Counties Cork and Kerry where Gainey and Gaine are not uncommon. An early record of the name occurred in 1590 when a MacGebenay obtained a pardon in Roscommon in the year 1590. A Father Roger O'Giana was captured by the English and thrown into Cork prison in the year 1599, after which he managed to escape. In modern times the majority of bearers of thee name Gainey hail from Counties Cork and Kerry .
The Gainey coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Gainey descendants.