Gunnie History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland
Scotland

Etymology of Gunnie

What does the name Gunnie mean?

The Irish name Gunnie was originally written in a Gaelic form as Ó Coinne, which means descendant of Coinneach. The personal name Coinneach was often Anglicized to Canice or Kenny.

Early Origins of the Gunnie family

The surname Gunnie was first found in County Tyrone (Irish:Tír Eoghain), the ancient territory of the O'Neills, now in the Province of Ulster, central Northern Ireland, where they held a family seat from ancient times. They were directly descended from King Colla da Crioch, the Irish King of Ulster, who was banished to Scotland with 350 Clann chiefs in the year 327.

Early History of the Gunnie family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gunnie research. Another 114 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1585, 1589, 1662, 1663 and 1682 are included under the topic Early Gunnie History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gunnie Spelling Variations

Many spelling variations of the surname Gunnie can be found in the archives. One reason for these variations is that ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in a single person being recorded under several different spellings. The different spellings that were found include Quinney, Guinney, Guiney, Gunny, Gunie, Gunney, O'Quinney, O'Guinney and many more.

Early Notables of the Gunnie family

Another 44 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gunnie Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gunnie family

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the Gunnie family came to North America quite early: Claudine Guenee landed in Louisiana in 1719; Richard Gunny landed in Virginia in 1637; Griffith, and Thomas Gunie settled in Virginia in 1623; Sarah Gunney settled in Virginia in 1653.