Gaynor Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Gaynor Family History

Gaynor Family History

The Gaynor ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Surnames developed a wide number of variants over the centuries. Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Gaynor include O'Gerane, Gerane and Guerin. This name in Irish is MacFhionnbhair and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from Longford.

A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. It is also the case that many Irish septs or clans that are related often belong to a larger groups, sometimes called tribes. For example the 'Tribes of Galway' consisted of fourteen distinct families. The 'Tribes of Kilkenny' were ten families, etc.

MacFhionnbhair was Chief of Muntergeran and was located on the West side of Lough Gowna in the present County of Longford. Muntergeran is a shortened anglicized form of Muintir Geradhain and the ancestor of the family of Gaynor was Fionnbhair O'Geradhain, who was Lord of that area in the eleventh century. There was another sept anglicized O'Gerane and Geran, they being listed as a principal Irish name in the year 1659 and the name survives to this very day as Guerin.The Gaynor family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Gaynor descendants.