MCKEON
Recorded variant spellings include Mc Keon, Mckeon
McKeon is an Irish surname of Gaelic origin, classified by its patronymic construction of Mac plus a personal name. The element Mac means “son of”, so the name denotes descent from a man called Eoghan or Eoin – the Irish forms of the name John. In the earliest records the spelling Mac Eoghain is used, and this has been anglicised to a range of variations including MacKeown, MacEoin, MacKeon, MacOwen and the distinct form O'Hone formerly recorded as O'Ceothain. Scholars note that there are at least seventeen distinct spellings within this family line.
The surname is closely associated with the province of Connacht, especially County Sligo where the clan first appears in historical accounts, as well as County Galway, where the barony of Kiltartan was held by a branch of the family in the sixteenth century. The area was then known as Termon Brian MacOwen, indicating the prominence of the surname in that locale. Later movements brought bearers of the name to County Down and County Fermanagh, and a later variant was O'Ceothain, which is now commonly seen as O'Hone.
The earliest documented instance of the name appears in the Petty Irish Census of 1659: Padraig MacOwen. This entry is recorded during the reign of Richard Cromwell, who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth from 1658 to 1659. The fact that the name survived a period of great upheaval suggests that the family maintained a notable presence in Ireland during the seventeenth century.
In heraldic tradition the McKeon arms are described as a silver field with a red hand couped positioned between two black lions in combatant posture. Above, in the chief, are four red knight’s spurs. This blazon reinforces the martial and noble associations that are often attributed to the name, emphasising the resilience suggested by its etymology.
Beyond Ireland, the displacement of families during the Great Famine and subsequent migrations has spread the surname across the Atlantic and into the Commonwealth. Today people bearing the name are found in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, in addition to their stronghold in Ireland. In the United Kingdom the name is particularly common in Northern Ireland, where it is experienced in Counties Monaghan, Fermanagh and County Leitrim, the latter providing a place name – Keonbrook – derived from the original MacKeonbrook.
Typical given names associated with the McKeon surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Patrick
- Paul
- Sean
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Alison
- Angela
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Kathleen
- Laura
- Louise
- Margaret
- Mary
- Maureen
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Susan
- Veronica
Similar and related surnames
- Mackeen
- Mackeon
- Mckoen
- Mckeone
- Mackeown
- Mackon
- Macqueen
- Mckean
- Mckeen
- Mckein
- Mcken
- Mckenn
- Mckeonn
- Mckeoun
- Mckeow
- Mckeowen
- Mckeown
- Mckeowne
- Mckeson
- Mckewn
- Mckewon
- Mcknew
- Mckno
- Mckown
- Mcqueen
- Mackeson
- Mccon
- Mckeane
- Mckeean
- Mckeene
- Mckehon
- Mckenne
- Mckeowan
- Mckeowin
- Mckesson
- Mckoon
- Mkeown
- MacKen
- Makin
- Maughan
- McCann
- McCune
- McKain
- McKinna
- McKone
- McQuinn
- Meakin
- Meekin
- Meighan
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname McKeon in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,384 people named McKeon in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,719th most common surname in Britain. Around 21 in a million people in Britain are named McKeon.
Surname type: From name of parent
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Ireland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
