DRENNAN
Drennan is a surname of Gaelic Irish provenance, derived from the patronymic Ó Draighneáin, which translates as "descendant of Draighneán." Draighneán itself is a diminutive of draighean, the Gaelic word for blackthorn, a thorny shrub common to the Irish landscape. Accordingly, the name has been interpreted as denoting a person who lived near a blackthorn or who possessed qualities associated with the plant.
The earliest surviving attestation of the name appears in 1163 in the Annals of the Four Masters, where an individual called Gillachiarain O’Draighnen of Fore in County Westmeath is mentioned. By the seventeenth century the name is recorded in parish registers of County Galway and in the marriage register of Westminster, where a John, son of James and Margaret Drennan, was christened on 20 June 1611 at St. Martin in the Fields.
Throughout history the spelling of the surname has varied, giving rise to forms such as Dreinan, Drinan, Drinnan and Drynan. In some families the name was partially translated into English, resulting in the alias Thornton, a recognised translation of draighean.
The great Irish Famine of the nineteenth century prompted many holders of the surname to emigrate. In April 1847 a passenger manifest records Margaret Drennan, aged 57, and her daughter Biddy, aged 25, aboard the ship Monterey bound for New York. Subsequent generations carried the name across the Atlantic to the United States and Canada, and to Australia, where the name remains comparatively uncommon in a global context.
One of the most distinguished bearers was Dr William Drennan (1754 – 1820), a physician, poet and scholar who is credited with first calling Ireland “the Emerald Isle” in a poem. His sons, John and William, also pursued literary careers. The name continues to appear in contemporary records, particularly in Northern Ireland, with concentrations reported in the counties of Antrim and Down.
Thus the surname Drennan encapsulates a Gaelic lineage that traces back to the twelfth-century, conveys a symbolic association with the national emblem of the blackthorn, and has disseminated through the Irish diaspora while retaining its traditional forms in modern Britain and Ireland.
Typical given names associated with the Drennan surname
Male
- Alexander
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Robert
- William
Female
- Anne
- Catherine
- Claire
- Elaine
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jacqueline
- Janet
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Rosalyn
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Drennan in...
Braille
⠙⠗⠑⠝⠝⠁⠝
Morse
-...-..-.-..--.
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,586 people named Drennan in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,118th most common surname in Britain. Around 24 in a million people in Britain are named Drennan.
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Scotland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
Famous people named Drennan
- Anthony Drennan - Irish musician
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.