2,171 Global FANNON Family Members

FANNON Family History

This is an Irish surname of great antiquity. It was originally recorded in the Gaelic as O'Fionnain which may be translated as 'The descendant of the fair headed one'. This in itself suggests that the original tribespeople descended from fair haired Norse-Viking invaders who invaded most of what is now Ulster in the 9th century a.d. Later these people moved west into the country, the name as Fannon, Finan, and Fannin, being most prominent in Counties Galway and Roscommon. There is some confusion and overlap with the English surname Fanning, also prominent in County Limerick, and given the lack of education before the 19th century some Fannons will originate from Fannings, and vice versa.