Curran is an Irish surname.

The name is neutral-gender and can mean either "dagger", "Champion" or "hero".

Background

The surname Curran (and many current derivatives) derives from a number of unrelated Irish families that certainly became ancient Kings and Queens of Ireland one thousand years ago. The crest displays three values believed to be hope, faith and love. There is an armoured helmet representing strength (and no fear) and then there is a parakeet as the most striking symbolic element in the family crest; believed to represent communication and linking back into love on the shield below. There is also an Iish tartan for the Curran clan that is complex and represents the various families that came together to make them ancient Kings of Ireland.

  • Ó Corráin – at least three distinct families of the name located in what are now counties Tipperary and Waterford; County Galway; County Leitrim; County Kerry and County Fermanagh. The Currans of Kerry are said to have originated with the Ui Charrain, of the Uí Meic Caille sept of the Uí Liatháin kings of Munster. The Uí Liatháin descended from Eochu Liathán ("Eochu the Grey"), son of Dáire Cerbba, who was, according to the Munster epic Forbhais Droma Dámhgháire, king of Medón Mairtine. According to the Annals of Inisfallen, the modern-day presence of the Curran family in County Kerry is the result of the war in 1177 between Domnall Mór Ua Briain, King of Thomond, and Diarmait Mor Mac Carthaigh, during which the Uí Meic Caille fled across the Lee; for some this departure was permanent, with many Currans becoming Kerry gentry. Descendants Thomas and Dowenald O Corran were amongst those summoned to serve in arms against the Earl of Desmond in 1345.[1]
  • Ó Cuirín – County Donegal
  • Mac Corraidhín – apparently now rendered as Crean in County Kerry
  • Curran - is still also prevalent in Ulster/Northern Ireland; for example in Warringstown (see reference to Professor Richard Curran below)

The surname Curran is common in all four provinces in Ireland, but especially in County Donegal and throughout Ulster. The name is also prevalent in the south of Ireland, appearing many times in the County Tipperary Hearth Money Rolls of 1665–67. Currans showed up frequently as Waterford residents in the census of 1659.

Individual scribes in Ireland during the Middle Ages would often record a person's name various ways. How the name was recorded depended on what that particular scribe believed the proper spelling for the name pronounced to him was. Spelling variations revealed in the search for the origin of the Curran family name include Curran, Currans, O'Curren, Curren, Corren, Corrane, O'Curran, Currens, Currin, Corraine, Courrane, Courran, Courren and many more.

In the United Kingdom, the name Curran is the 595th most popular surname with an estimated 10,990 people with that name. [1] However, in Australia, the name Curran is ranked the 510th most popular surname with an estimated 7,472 people with that name. [2] And in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Curran is the 588th popular surname with an estimated 78 people with that name. [3] The United States ranks Curran as 1,435th with 22,383 people. [4]

People

In fiction:

References

  1. ↑ Eriu, vol. 30, pp. 173–75, 1979, Donnchadh O Corrain
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