Kinning History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Scotland

Etymology of Kinning

The Kinning family history stretches back to the clans of the Dalriadan kingdom on the sea-swept Hebrides islands and mountainous western coast of Scotland. The name Kinning is derived from the Gaelic personal name Findgaine. This is derived from the earlier forms Finghin and Finnguine. The Gaelic form of the surname is Mac Fhionghuin or Mac Fhionnghain.

Kinning Coat of Arms Creation

The Mackinnons have a boar's head with a shin bone in its mouth, which was adopted as their crest in memory of the following legendary incident.

Mackinnon of Strathaird in Skye and six men were out after deer, and when the hunt was over they went into a cave where they roasted some venison. While they were eating it, the mouth of the cave was darkened by a huge boar, evidently ready to attack them. His men retreated to the innermost recesses of the cave, but Mackinnon remained ready to face the boar. Just as it was in the act of charging, he thrust the shin bone down the animal's throat and choked it. Hence the crest. The motto is in Latin " Audentes fortuna juvat " (Fortune favours the daring). 1

Early Origins of the Kinning family

Early History of the Kinning family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kinning research. Another 319 words (23 lines of text) covering the years 1409, 1467, 1495, 1506, 1536, 1545, 1557, 1560, 1577, 1586, 1609, 1621, 1662, 1673, 1675, 1681, 1745, 1789, 1791, 1804, 1808, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1826, 1829, 1830, 1836, 1870 and 1884 are included under the topic Early Kinning History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kinning Spelling Variations

Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. Kinning has been written as MacKinnon, MacKinning, MacInnon, MacKinnen, MacFingon and many more.

Early Notables of the Kinning family

Notable amongst the Clan from early times was Daniel MacKinnon (1791-1836), colonel and historian of the Coldstream guards, born in 1791, was son of William Mackinnon, chief of the Clan Mackinnon. William Alexander Mackinnon (1789-1870) was his elder brother, and Daniel Henry Mackinnon (1813-1884) was his first cousin. On 16 June 1804 he was appointed ensign in the Coldstream guards, in which his...
Another 62 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Kinning Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Kinning family

The descendants of the Dalriadan families who made the great crossing of the Atlantic still dot communities along the east coast of the United States and Canada. In the American War of Independence, many of the settlers traveled north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Clan societies and highland games have allowed Canadian and American families of Scottish descent to recover much of their lost heritage. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Kinning or a variant listed above include: John MacKinnon, who came to Nova Scotia in 1767; Allan MacKinnen, who settled in Prince Edward Island in 1772; Emily MacKinnon, who settled in Prince Edward Island in 1774.