Heaney last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Heaney is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Heaney.

Meaning of Heaney

Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó hÉighnigh, meaning "descendant of Éighneach," a personal name meaning "bird-like" or "well-disposed."

Heaney, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Heaney surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Heaney in America

Heaney is the 7888th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Heaney surname appeared 4,197 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Heaney.

We can also compare 2010 data for Heaney to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 7888 7810 0.99%
Count 4,197 3,928 6.62%
Proportion per 100k 1.42 1.46 -2.78%

The history of the last name Heaney

The surname Heaney has its origins in Ireland, specifically in the province of Ulster. It is believed to have derived from the Irish Gaelic word "O'hInneirghe," which means "descendant of Inneirghe." Inneirghe was a personal name that may have originated from the Old Irish word "inneir," meaning "hostage" or "captive."

The Heaney surname first appeared in historical records in the 13th century, during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. It was primarily found in counties Derry and Antrim, where the family had established themselves as landowners and chieftains.

One of the earliest known references to the Heaney name can be found in the "Annals of the Four Masters," a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled by Franciscan monks in the 17th century. The annals mention a certain "O'hInneirghe" who was involved in a conflict with another clan in the year 1261.

In the 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Heaney family played a significant role in the Nine Years' War, also known as the Tyrone Rebellion. Sir Hugh O'Heaney, born around 1550, was a prominent figure in this conflict, leading forces against the English.

Another notable Heaney was Patrick Heaney, a Catholic priest born in 1688 in County Derry. He was a prominent figure during the period of the Penal Laws, when Catholics faced discrimination and persecution in Ireland.

In more recent times, the most famous bearer of the Heaney surname was Seamus Heaney (1939-2013), an Irish poet, playwright, and lecturer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995 for his works, which explored themes of Irish nationalism, history, and the natural world.

Other notable individuals with the Heaney surname include Brian Heaney (born 1944), an Irish film director and screenwriter; Kathleen Heaney (1916-2004), an Irish-American actress; and Colm Heaney (born 1965), an Irish former Gaelic footballer.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Heaney

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Heaney.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Heaney was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 95.26% 3,998
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.45% 19
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.52% 22
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.14% 6
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.29% 54
Hispanic Origin 2.34% 98

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Heaney has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 95.26% 96.21% -0.99%
Black 0.45% 0.43% 4.55%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.52% 0.53% -1.90%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.14% 0.13% 7.41%
Two or More Races 1.29% 1.09% 16.81%
Hispanic 2.34% 1.60% 37.56%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Heaney was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Heaney, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Heaney last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/heaney-surname-popularity/.

"Heaney last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/heaney-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Heaney last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/heaney-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.