Origin of the Name Mannix
The origin of the name
Mannix was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. The name Mannix has a number of variants including Manix, Manahan, O'Manahan, Minogue and Minnock. These Gaelic names are all derived from the O'Mainchin sept that was located in the southern part of County Cork and from the O'Muineog sept that was located in County Clare. The village of Ballyminogue still exists showing the exact location of this sept.
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.
When Gaelic names were anglicized during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they were often changed to Anglo equivalents that sounded most like their original Gaelic name. This sept name is taken from the word 'manach' which translates as 'monk'. It is possible also that some bearers of the name Mannix may have originally rendered their name as Mannis and even McManus.
The Mannix 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 Mannix descendants.