Doran Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Doran Family History

Doran Family History

The family history of the ancient name Doran 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 Doran include Dorran, Dorrian, Dorian and Doren. These names are derived from the Gaelic O'Deorain sept that were on of the 'Seven Septs of Leix', the others being O'Devoy, McEvoy, O'Dowling, O'Kelly, O'Lalor and O'Moore.

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.

The O'Dorans have been justly described as 'the great Brehon family of Leinster' and were thus concerned with legal matters. Despite several leading members of the sept being transplanted to County Kerry in 1609 they are still found in considerable numbers in Leinster Province. The original Gaelic form of the name was O'Deoradhain, taken from words that translate as 'exiled person'.The Doran 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 Doran descendants.