Condon
An Irish surname linked to a powerful Cork sept, with the family’s territory giving its name to a barony.
The #2,752 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,552 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is chiefly associated with the Irish family name found in Munster, especially County Cork. Historical sources connect the Condons with an old Gaelic sept whose territory became the name of a barony in Cork. The deeper Gaelic form is uncertain from the excerpts, but the surname is traditionally treated as an anglicized Irish territorial family name rather than an occupational or descriptive English one.
History
Lower explicitly describes the Condons as a powerful Irish sept in old Cork, influential enough for their lands to be used as the name of a barony. Woulfe also lists Condon among Irish surname forms, supporting its Irish origin and anglicized spelling. The name is now found well beyond Ireland, including in the United States, through later migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A surname can leave a mark on the map: the Condons were said to be so prominent that their territory became a barony name in County Cork.
From the historical record
“Gentle Men. CONDON. The Condons were deemed so powerful a sept of old, that their terri- tory was adopted as the name of a liarony in CO. Cork. D'Alton. CONGALTON. The same as Congilton. CONGILTON. Of that Ilk; "which family is in East-Lothian." Nisbet. CONRY. An Irish sept, a branch of the”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom