surnames.ie

Irish surname · 96th most common in 1911

Curran

Curran is the usual English form of Ó Corráin, 'descendant of Corrán', and of the closely related Ó Corraidhín. These names belonged to several unrelated Gaelic families, so Curran is found in every province, from Donegal and Ulster to Kerry, Tipperary and Waterford.

Irish Ó CorráinIrish Ó CorraidhínIrish Ó CarráinIrish Mac Corraidhín
1901 census
7,082
#101 · 16 per 10,000
1911 census
7,241
#96 · 17 per 10,000
1926 census
5,825
#89 · 20 per 10,000
Most numerous
Galway
Highest share: Waterford

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: several unrelated families named Ó Corráin, Ó Corraidhín and related forms, whose English spellings converged on Curran.[1][2][3]

Ó Corráin
“descendant of Corrán”[1][4][5]
Woulfe's main entry, also written Ó Curráin, which he regarded as a corrupt spelling. Gaois gives Ó Corráin as the standard form, with Ó Curráin as an alternative.
Ó Corraidhín
“descendant of Corraidhín”[2]
A variant of Ó Corráin common in Munster and south Leinster. Woulfe says it was generally anglicised Curran, though Curreen, Currin and Creen also occur. He notes it was also written Ó Cuirín.
Ó Carráin
“descendant of Carrán”[6]
A variant of Ó Corráin, mostly giving Crean, Crane and similar forms rather than Curran.
Mac Corraidhín
“son of Corraidhín”[7]
A Sligo and Leitrim family whose name gave Curreen, Currin and Curren.

The name is built on the personal name Corrán, usually explained as “a diminutive of Corradh, a name Woulfe connects with the word for a spear”. Woulfe explains Corrán and Corraidhín as diminutives of Corradh, and glosses Corradh and the related Corra and carra as 'spear'.[1][8][6]

Pronunciation

Curran: KUR-un

Place

Where the Currans lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 44.8 per 10,000 (756 people) Waterford: 52.8 per 10,000 (435 people) Dublin: 15 per 10,000 (720 people) Kilkenny: 23 per 10,000 (173 people) Carlow: 49.8 per 10,000 (181 people) Limerick: 3.1 per 10,000 (44 people) Louth: 20 per 10,000 (126 people) Tipperary: 6.9 per 10,000 (105 people) Roscommon: 4.4 per 10,000 (41 people) Meath: 19.5 per 10,000 (127 people) Wicklow: 12.3 per 10,000 (75 people) Cavan: 18 per 10,000 (164 people) Cork: 4.5 per 10,000 (177 people) Clare: 5.6 per 10,000 (58 people) Galway: 44.5 per 10,000 (811 people) Mayo: 7 per 10,000 (134 people) Sligo: 13 per 10,000 (103 people) Leitrim: 36.2 per 10,000 (228 people) Offaly: 7.9 per 10,000 (45 people) Laois: 15.7 per 10,000 (86 people) Kildare: 15 per 10,000 (100 people) Kerry: 44.2 per 10,000 (707 people) Monaghan: 5.2 per 10,000 (37 people) Wexford: 15.6 per 10,000 (160 people) Longford: 20.1 per 10,000 (88 people) Westmeath: 8.8 per 10,000 (53 people) Tyrone: 15.3 per 10,000 (219 people) Antrim: 5.4 per 10,000 (258 people) Armagh: 8.1 per 10,000 (97 people) Fermanagh: 21.7 per 10,000 (132 people) Londonderry: 12.7 per 10,000 (178 people) Down: 20.4 per 10,000 (623 people)
fewerup to 63 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Waterford

53 per 10,000

435 Currans · 3.2× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Waterford 53
  2. Carlow 50
  3. Donegal 45
  4. Galway 45
  5. Kerry 44
  6. Leitrim 36
  7. Kilkenny 23
  8. Fermanagh 22

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim228258—55—
Armagh9897—88—
Carlow189181192515056
Cavan200164200211824
Clare705839664
Cork144177184455
Donegal723756649424543
Down574623—2020—
Dublin659720790151516
Fermanagh115132—1822—
Galway875811773454546
Kerry584707829354456
Kildare84100149141526
Kilkenny153173168202324
Laois1008677181615
Leitrim281228234413641
Limerick464447333
Londonderry136178—913—
Longford708867152017
Louth117126137182022
Mayo150134119877
Meath124127154182025
Monaghan333721453
Offaly444529786
Roscommon364135444
Sligo84103122101317
Tipperary8310596577
Tyrone241219—1615—
Waterford549435436635356
Westmeath4853588910
Wexford170160130161614
Wicklow747590121216

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Currans made up the largest share of the population. In Killannin, Co. Galway, about one resident in 6 was a Curran.

DEDCountyCurransShare
KillanninGalway157 16.1%
FurboghGalway71 9.3%
KilcoonaGalway28 8.3%
MastergeehyKerry33 8.2%
Dungarvan RuralWaterford33 7.2%
BallinvoherKerry58 7.0%
KilcumminGalway140 6.8%
GortahorkDonegal154 6.4%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Curran lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

Ó Corráin families

several areas · Tipperary, Waterford, Galway, Leitrim, Kerry, Fermanagh

Wikipedia counts at least three distinct Ó Corráin families, in what are now Tipperary, Waterford, Galway, Leitrim, Kerry and Fermanagh. Woulfe does not separate them, describing Ó Corráin simply as a common surname found in all four provinces.[3][1]

Currans of Kerry (Uí Meic Caille)

Co. Kerry, earlier east Munster · Kerry, Cork

Wikipedia traces the Kerry Currans to the Uí Meic Caille, a sept of the Uí Liatháin, an early Munster kingdom. According to the Annals of Inisfallen, some of the Uí Meic Caille crossed the Lee during the war of 1177 between Domnall Mór Ua Briain and Diarmait Mór Mac Carthaigh, and stayed in the west.[3][9]

Ó Corraidhín of Munster and south Leinster

Munster and south Leinster

Woulfe calls this variant common throughout Munster and the south of Leinster and says it was usually rendered Curran in English, so many southern Currans may descend from it rather than from Ó Corráin proper.[2]

Mac Corraidhín of Skreen

parish of Skreen, later Co. Leitrim · Sligo, Leitrim

A family of the Uí Fiachrach once seated in the parish of Skreen in Co. Sligo, who by the end of the 16th century were more numerous in Leitrim. Wikipedia instead links Mac Corraidhín with the Kerry name Crean.[7][3]

Ó Cuirín of Donegal

Co. Donegal · Donegal

Wikipedia gives Ó Cuirín as the source of the name in Donegal, one of the counties where Curran is most common. Woulfe treats Ó Cuirín as another spelling of Ó Corraidhín.[3][2]

The name over time

History

Many families, one English name

Curran is a meeting point for several Gaelic surnames rather than the name of a single clan. Woulfe describes Ó Corráin as a common name in all the provinces and notes that it was sometimes used interchangeably with Ó Carráin, Ó Carraidhín and Ó Corraidhín. Gaois lists Ó Corráin as the standard Irish form, with Ó Curráin as an alternative. Wikipedia counts at least three separate Ó Corráin families, spread from Fermanagh and Leitrim to Kerry and Waterford, and adds that the name is especially common in Donegal and Ulster.[1][5][3]

Curran, Crean and Curreen

Because the Irish forms overlapped, the English spellings are a tangle. Woulfe lists among the forms of Ó Corráin not only Curran and Currane but Crean, Crane and Craan, with Crehan and even Carey in brackets as doubtful forms. Ó Corraidhín, he says, usually became Curran, but Curreen and Currin are also found, and Creen is a contraction of Curreen. A Curran family therefore cannot always be told apart from a Crean or Curreen family by spelling alone.[1][2][6]

The Currans of Kerry

Wikipedia records a tradition that the Kerry Currans descend from the Uí Meic Caille, part of the Uí Liatháin, an early Munster kingdom of the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti. The Annals of Inisfallen describe how, in the war of 1177 between Domnall Mór Ua Briain of Thomond and Diarmait Mór Mac Carthaigh, the Uí Meic Caille retreated across the Lee, some of them for good. Thomas and Dowenald O Corran were among those called to serve against the Earl of Desmond in 1345.[3][9]

A northern Mac family

Not all Currans descend from an Ó name. Woulfe records Mac Corraidhín as a family of the Uí Fiachrach race, seated in the parish of Skreen in Co. Sligo; by the late 16th century they were more numerous in Leitrim. In Leitrim the rare Mac Corra seems to have been used as a variant of the same name. Wikipedia, by contrast, says Mac Corraidhín became Crean in Kerry, a reminder that the same Irish form could take different English shapes in different counties.[7][10][3]

Churchmen and early records

Wikipedia notes two medieval bishops whose Irish names correspond to Curran: Simon Ó Cuirrin, bishop of Kilfenora from 1300 to 1302, and Séamus Ó Cuirrín, bishop of Killaloe from 1526 to 1542. In later centuries the name appears often in southern records, including the Tipperary Hearth Money Rolls of 1665–67 and the Waterford returns of the 1659 census. Taken together, these scattered references show the name long established in Munster as well as in the north.[3]

Places linked to the name

  • Skreen (An Scrín), Co. Sligo — Parish where the Mac Corraidhín family were originally seated.[7]

Everyday lives

The Currans in the census

Who the Currans were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

Currans All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Curran bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +19.8 points vs Ireland
Currans 93.4%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −9.7 points vs Ireland
Currans 3.5%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −8.1 points vs Ireland
Currans 2.0%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −1.9 points vs Ireland
Currans 1.2%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +16.5 points vs Ireland
Currans 31.8%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +17.3 points vs Ireland
Currans 30.8%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties +14.5 points vs Ireland
Currans 28.0%
All of Ireland 13.5%

385 Currans spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −8.7 points vs Ireland
Currans 71.7%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −7.4 points vs Ireland
Currans 78.4%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,486 households lower than Ireland
Currans 4.76
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
Currans 6.75
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living +0.5 points vs Ireland
Currans 80.3%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,345
Farmer's son709
Farmer's daughter354
Agricultural labourer285
General labourer251
Labourer184
Farm servant183
Farm labourer155
House keeper142
Domestic servant124

Born outside Ireland

2.0% of Currans in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England96
Scotland31
United States11
India4
Wales1
Australia & NZ1

Median age: 23 in 1901, 24 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Currans

Men and boys

  1. John1,455
  2. Patrick1,189
  3. James909
  4. Michael872
  5. Thomas725
  6. William419
  7. Edward254
  8. Peter246
  9. Joseph238
  10. Martin198

Women and girls

  1. Mary1,768
  2. Bridget807
  3. Margaret559
  4. Ellen429
  5. Annie371
  6. Catherine356
  7. Kate323
  8. Maggie270
  9. Anne258
  10. Sarah256

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, Michael, James, Thomas; Mary, Bridget, Margaret, Annie, Ellen.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
Curran7,0827,2415,825Search

Related forms

  • O'Curran — The form keeping the Ó prefix, recorded by Woulfe.[1]
  • Currane, Currain — Other spellings of Ó Corráin and Ó Curráin; Gaois lists Currane as an alternative English form.[4][5]
  • Curren, Currin, Curreen — Mostly from Ó Corraidhín and Mac Corraidhín.[2][7]
  • Crean, Creane, Crane — From Ó Carráin and Ó Corráin; Woulfe found these used interchangeably with Curran's Irish forms.[1][6]
  • Corran — A spelling of Ó Corráin closer to the Irish.[1]

Diaspora

The Currans abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Curran24,9691423rd

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a Curran coat of arms?

Arms were granted to particular families, so there is no Curran 'family crest' that belongs to everyone of the name. We have found no Curran entry in Burke's General Armory of 1884, the standard register of arms for Ireland and Britain. Any coat of arms offered for the name should be traced to a specific grant and family before it is relied on.[11]

Websites selling a single “Curran family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named Curran

  • John Philpot Curran (1750–1817)
    Orator, politician and barrister who defended United Irishmen accused of sedition and treason.
  • Sarah Curran (1782–1808)
    Musician and poet, fiancée of the executed revolutionary Robert Emmet.
  • Pete Curran (1860–1910)
    Glasgow-born trade unionist of Irish Catholic family, later MP for Jarrow.
  • Sir Samuel Curran (1912–1998)
    Scottish physicist, inventor of the scintillation counter and first principal of Strathclyde University.
  • Joan Curran (1916–1999)
    Welsh physicist who devised the chaff radar countermeasure in the Second World War.
  • Charles Curran (born 1934)
    American Catholic priest and moral theologian.
  • Alvin Curran (born 1938)
    American composer and co-founder of Musica Elettronica Viva, based in Rome.
  • Donnchadh Ó Corráin (1942–2017)
    Historian of early medieval Ireland and the Vikings at University College Cork.
  • Sam Curran (born 1998)
    English cricketer who has played for England in all formats.

Questions

Questions about the Curran name

Is Curran an Irish surname?

Yes. Curran is an anglicised form of Gaelic surnames, chiefly Ó Corráin and Ó Corraidhín, with Mac Corraidhín and Ó Cuirín contributing in places. Several unrelated families bore these names, which is why Curran turns up in all four provinces, with strong concentrations in Donegal and Ulster and long-standing families in Kerry, Tipperary and Waterford.[1][2][3]

What is Curran in Irish?

Usually Ó Corráin, which Gaois gives as the standard modern form, with Ó Curráin as an alternative spelling. In Munster and south Leinster Curran often stands for Ó Corraidhín, and in Donegal Wikipedia gives Ó Cuirín. Woulfe also records Ó Curráin but regarded it as a corrupt spelling of Ó Corráin.[5][4][2][3]

What does the name Curran mean?

It means 'descendant of Corrán'. Corrán is a diminutive of the personal name Corradh, which Woulfe associates with the word for a spear, so the name has nothing to do with the English word 'currant'. As with most Gaelic surnames, it records an ancestor's name rather than a trade or place.[1][8]

Are Curran and Crean the same name?

Sometimes. Woulfe found Ó Corráin and Ó Carráin used interchangeably, and both produced spellings such as Crean, Creane and Crane as well as Curran. Wikipedia also links Kerry Creans with Mac Corraidhín. The spelling alone therefore does not settle which family a Crean or Curran belongs to.[1][6][3]

Is there a Curran family crest or coat of arms?

Not one that belongs to everyone named Curran. Arms were granted to individual families, and we have found no Curran entry in Burke's General Armory, the main 19th-century register. Crests sold for the surname are not evidence that a particular family was ever granted arms.[11]

Where does the Curran name come from?

From several parts of Ireland. Wikipedia places separate Ó Corráin families in Tipperary, Waterford, Galway, Leitrim, Kerry and Fermanagh, and links the Donegal Currans to Ó Cuirín. Woulfe adds a Mac Corraidhín family from Skreen in Sligo, later found in Leitrim, so a family's own county is the best guide to which line it belongs to.[3][7]

Where in Ireland is the Curran surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Currans lived in Galway (811), Donegal (756), Dublin (720). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Waterford (53 per 10,000), Carlow (50 per 10,000), Donegal (45 per 10,000).

How common was the Curran surname in Ireland?

7,241 people were recorded as Curran in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 96th most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 606.

Looking for a Curran ancestor?

Search every Curran household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Corráin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Corraidhín, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  3. Wikipedia, Curran (surname) (2026)
  4. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Curráin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  5. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte (surname database), version 2 (2022). Cluster 'Corrán': Ó Corráin (alternative Ó Curráin) = Curran (alternative Currane).
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Carráin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Corraidhín, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  8. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Corraidh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  9. Wikipedia, Uí Liatháin (2026)
  10. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Corra, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  11. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). No entry found under Curran, O'Curran or Corran in the scanned text.
  12. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.