Origin of the Name McNally
The ancient history of the name
McNally 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 McNally
include McAnally, Nally, McNallie, McInallie, McInally and several others. These names are anglicized forms of the Gaelic Mac an Fhailghigh sept name which translates from the Gaelic word 'failgheach' meaning 'poor man'.
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.
These families had several different origins in Ireland . One group were of Norman origin and when they settled in Counties Mayo and Roscommon they acquired the Gaelic name now borne by them. Another group were found in Ulster Province in the Counties of Armagh and Monaghan and were of the Gaelic Mac Con Ulaidh sept, meaning 'son of the hound of Ulster '. In modern times bearers of the name are most numerous in this part of the country. In the census of 1659 the name appears in the form of Knally as a principal name in Westmeath.
The McNally 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 McNally descendants.