Cooney
An Irish surname, often treated as an Anglicized form of an older Gaelic name beginning with O' or Mac, though the exact origin can vary by family line.
The #2,883 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,789 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Cooney is usually an Anglicized Irish surname. In older Gaelic spelling it may reflect names built from a personal name such as Cúán or a related form, with the prefix O' indicating “descendant of.” Because several similar Irish surnames were rendered in English as Cooney, the spelling can mask more than one original Gaelic source. The form is therefore best understood as an English spelling of an Irish clan name rather than a single transparent modern-word meaning.
History
The name is well attested in Irish surname lists and appears especially in western Irish records. Historical sources place it among families found in counties such as Antrim and Galway, and it later spread widely through emigration to Britain, North America, and other English-speaking regions. In some cases, Cooney may represent variant spellings or anglicized forms related to nearby surnames such as Counihan or Coonan.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older Irish surname scholarship, Cooney often appears alongside several look-alike names, which is one reason the spelling has been especially tricky to trace family-by-family.
From the historical record
“Coyne ; Quaid. 0 CviAiiA, 0 CuADAC, Cooney. C CuATiACAin, Coonaghan, Coon- ahan, Coonihan, Counihan ; Cooney.”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames