About the O'Carney Surname

A coat of arms belongs to a particular family line rather than to everyone named O'Carney, so the heraldry linked to Carney is a starting point, not an automatic right.

Meaning of the name

Written in a baptism entry or a ship's list, O'Carney usually leads back to Carney. The family name meaning is “Descendant of Cearnach”, the same as for Carney.

O'Carney simply joins the particle O' to Carney, a habit common in Irish naming. Census takers and immigration officers often wrote what they heard. Related forms: Carny. Similar-sounding surnames on Herald Lab: O'Kearney.

For the full story, order the O'Carney surname pack.