Swinney
An Anglicized form of Sweeney, ultimately from an Irish personal name meaning “pleasant” or “well-disposed.”
The #6,909 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,580 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally treated as a variant or Anglicized form of Sweeney, itself from the Gaelic personal name Suibhne. The old Gaelic name is commonly explained as meaning something like “pleasant” or “easy-going,” though exact nuances vary in older sources. The Harrison entry also groups Swinney with Mac Swiney/Mac Sweeney forms, reinforcing the same underlying Gaelic source.
History
In English-language records, Swinney appears as one of several spellings used to render Irish surnames built on Suibhne, alongside Sweeney, MacSweeney, and MacSwiney. The form was likely shaped by English spelling habits rather than a separate independent English place-name origin. It is found especially in families of Irish descent in Britain and later in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th- and early-20th-century surname writers often treated Swinney simply as a spelling variant of Sweeney rather than a distinct surname of its own.
From the historical record
“SWINNEY = Sweeney, q.v. SWINSCOE \ (Scand.) Bel. to Swinscoe SWI NSCOW / (Staffs), 13th cent. Swyneskow, Sviiniscow = the Swine-Wood [O.N. sutn + skdg-r (Dan.-Norw. skov), a wood] SWINSTEAD (Eng.) Bel. to Swinstead; or Dweller at the Swine-Place [O.E. swin”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)