Keenan
Keenan (Cianán) is a male Irish name which means "ancient, distant". Keenan is an Anglicisation of the Irish name Cianán which is a diminutive of Cian. The Ó Cianáin clan (Keenan) were the traditional historians to the McGuire clan. Keenan is also a surname.
Origins
Recorded as O'Keenan and more usually Keenan, this is an Irish surname. Found mainly in the Ulster and northern counties of Fermanagh and Monaghan, it originates from the ancient pre 10th century Gaelic name O' Cianain meaning "The descendant of the faithful one" or similar. It may not have been entirely coincidence that the clan was famous throughout the Medieval Period for producing both high-ranking members of the church, and early historians, in several cases the same thing. The first recorded scribe was Adam O' Caianain, who was also the canon of Lisgool in Fermanagh. He is mentioned in the annals known as the "Four Masters" as being the historian to the famous Maguires of County Fermanagh. It is said that in 1659 in Petty's Census of Ireland that the spelling was found as MacKeenan, but if so this spelling is now completely extinct and research suggests that the original recording may have been a clerical mistake.
According to the United States' Social Security Administration [1], Keenan was the 607th most popular first name for newborns in the United States in 2006, which is a decrease from being the 362nd most popular in 1992.
People named Keenan
First name
- Keenan Allen, American football wide receiver
- Keenan Cornelius, American jiu-jitsu practitioner
- Keenan Clayton, American football linebacker
- Keenan Hollahan, pseudonym for advice columnist
- Keenan McCardell, Former American football wide receiver
- Keenan Robinson, American football linebacker
- Kenan Thompson, American actor and comedian
- Keenen Ivory Wayans, American comedian, director and writer
- Keenan Wynn, American character actor
Last name
- Brian Keenan (Irish republican), Provisional IRA member
- Brian Keenan (musician born 1943), American musician
- Brian Keenan (writer), Irish journalist and hostage
- Brigid Keenan, British/Irish writer of best-selling memoirs "Diplomatic Baggage"
- Cathy Keenan, Canadian television actor
- Celia Keenan-Bolger, American stage actor and singer
- David Keenan, Scottish writer and musician
- Deborah Keenan, American poet and educator
- Don Keenan, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
- Donal Keenan, Irish Gaelic games administrator
- Edward L. Keenan, American historian of medieval Russia
- Frank Keenan, American stage and screen actor and director
- Frank Keenan (hurler) Irish hurling player
- Harold Keenan, English footballer
- Harry Keenan, American screen actor
- Helen Grace Scott Keenan, American journalist, OSS employee and Soviet spy
- Joe Keenan (footballer), British footballer
- Joe Keenan (writer), American writer and playwright
- John Keenan (Medal of Honor), U.S. Army soldier
- John F. Keenan, American attorney and federal judge
- John R. Keennan (1940–2015), American baseball scout
- Joseph B. Keenan, chief prosecutor in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
- Joseph Henry Keenan, American thermodynamicist
- Lillie Keenan (born 1996), American show jumping rider
- Luke A. Keenan (1872–1924), New York politician
- Maynard James Keenan, American singer of bands Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer
- Mike Keenan, Canadian ice hockey manager
- Nancy Keenan, American politician and pro-choice campaigner
- Norbert Keenan, Australian politician
- Paddy Keenan, Irish uilleann piper
- Pepper Keenan, American musician with Corrosion of Conformity
- Peter Keenan ('Crackers' Keenan), former Australian rules footballer
- Peter Keenan (boxer), Scottish boxer of the 1940s, and 1950s
- Philip Childs Keenan (1908-2000), American astronomer
- Sinead Keenan, Irish actress
- Shy Keenan, British author, child sexual abuse survivor, and founder of Phoenix Survivors
- Sterling James Keenan, American pro wrestler
- Tamra Keenan, British singer
- Terry Keenan, American broadcast television business correspondent
- Vernon Keenan, American law enforcement officer
- Fictional
- Gareth Keenan, character from UK television series The Office
See also
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