O'Neal
A surname from the Irish O'Neill tradition, meaning a descendant of Neil or Niall.
The #729 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,435 Americans shares it.
Etymology
O'Neal is an Anglicized spelling of the Irish surname O'Neill, from the Gaelic prefix Ó meaning 'descendant of' plus the personal name Niall. In older English records the name often appears in many spellings, including Oneal, O'Neil, and O'Neal. The core sense is therefore 'descendant of Niall/Neil.'
History
The name is strongly associated with the great Irish O'Neill lineage, one of the best-known hereditary surnames in Ireland. In older Scottish and English sources, spellings were often fluid, and the surname could be written in forms such as Oneal or Neilsoun. The excerpted source reflects this older habit of treating Oneal and related forms as closely connected.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older writers sometimes tried to explain Oneal and Neilson as related spellings in medieval Scotland, showing how loose surname spelling could be before modern standardization.
From the historical record
“NEILSON.* " Three brothers of the sirname of Oneal, came from Ireland to Scotland, in the reign of Robert the Bruce, where they got lands for their valour, and their issue changed their name a little from Oneal to Neilsou ; for Oneal and M'Neil are the same with Ncilson." jSTisbet. The”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom