surnames.ie

Irish surname · 99th most common in 1911

McCann

McCann comes from the Irish Mac Cana or Mac Canna, the name of a Gaelic family who were lords of Clann Breasail (Clanbrassil) on the southern shore of Lough Neagh in north Armagh. Sources disagree on the meaning: Woulfe gives 'son of Annadh', while Wikipedia links it to cana, 'wolf cub'.

Irish Mac Canna · Mac CanaIrish Mag CannaIrish Mac Canann
1901 census
7,195
#100 · 16 per 10,000
1911 census
7,185
#99 · 16 per 10,000
1926 census
2,939
#188 · 10 per 10,000
Most numerous
Antrim
Highest share: Armagh

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: an Ulster family whose chiefs ruled Clann Breasail in north Co. Armagh.[1][2]

Mac Canna
Modern spelling: Mac Cana
“son of Annadh (Woulfe); son of Cana, 'wolf cub' (Wikipedia, Wiktionary)”[1][3][2][4]
Woulfe's headword. He adds that it is also written Mac Cana and, in his view more correctly, Mac Anna.
Mag Canna
“a variant of Mac Canna”[5]
The source of forms such as MacGann and Magann. Woulfe also points to Mag Annaidh as a more correct spelling.
Mac Canann
“son of Cano or Cana (whelp, wolf)”[6]
A separate, rare and scattered surname that Woulfe says was often hidden under the English form MacCann.

The name is built on the personal name Annadh or Cana, usually explained as “uncertain: Cana is glossed 'wolf cub' or 'young warrior'”. Woulfe derives Mac Canna from the personal name Annadh. Wikipedia and Wiktionary instead derive Mac Cana from Cana, meaning a wolf cub, and Burke's General Armory names an ancestor called Cana, lord of Clanbrassil. Woulfe himself glosses Cano or Cana as 'whelp, wolf' under the separate name Mac Canann.[1][2][4][7][6]

Pronunciation

McCann: muh-KAN

Place

Where the McCanns 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: 7.2 per 10,000 (122 people) Waterford: 1.2 per 10,000 (10 people) Dublin: 15.8 per 10,000 (761 people) Kilkenny: 0.7 per 10,000 (5 people) Carlow: 1.7 per 10,000 (6 people) Limerick: 5.4 per 10,000 (78 people) Louth: 46 per 10,000 (290 people) Tipperary: 2.8 per 10,000 (43 people) Roscommon: 15.5 per 10,000 (146 people) Meath: 19.5 per 10,000 (127 people) Wicklow: 6.9 per 10,000 (42 people) Cavan: 24 per 10,000 (219 people) Cork: 0.8 per 10,000 (31 people) Clare: 0.2 per 10,000 (2 people) Galway: 2.2 per 10,000 (40 people) Mayo: 16 per 10,000 (307 people) Sligo: 13 per 10,000 (103 people) Leitrim: 11.1 per 10,000 (70 people) Offaly: 9 per 10,000 (51 people) Laois: 9 per 10,000 (49 people) Kildare: 11.8 per 10,000 (79 people) Kerry: 0.9 per 10,000 (14 people) Monaghan: 8.9 per 10,000 (64 people) Wexford: 3.4 per 10,000 (35 people) Longford: 31.5 per 10,000 (138 people) Westmeath: 13.5 per 10,000 (81 people) Tyrone: 46.1 per 10,000 (659 people) Antrim: 29.5 per 10,000 (1,410 people) Armagh: 88.9 per 10,000 (1,064 people) Fermanagh: 16.5 per 10,000 (100 people) Londonderry: 26.5 per 10,000 (370 people) Down: 21.9 per 10,000 (669 people)
fewerup to 89 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Armagh

89 per 10,000

1,064 McCanns · 5.43× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Armagh 89
  2. Tyrone 46
  3. Louth 46
  4. Longford 32
  5. Antrim 30
  6. Londonderry 27
  7. Cavan 24
  8. Down 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
Antrim1,2451,410—2730—
Armagh1,0981,064—8889—
Carlow265122
Cavan242219204252425
Clare126001
Cork113143011
Donegal154122101977
Down700669—2422—
Dublin708761952161619
Fermanagh110100—1717—
Galway304039222
Kerry81415111
Kildare1017960171210
Kilkenny5512112
Laois59495410911
Leitrim68705210119
Limerick987874755
Londonderry353370—2427—
Longford135138117293229
Louth330290252514640
Mayo315307260161615
Meath155127126222020
Monaghan79646511910
Offaly4551548910
Roscommon142146119141614
Sligo103103104131315
Tipperary484341333
Tyrone675659—4546—
Waterford91014112
Westmeath918197151417
Wexford403534434
Wicklow354239677

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where McCanns made up the largest share of the population. In Glencar, Co. Leitrim, about one resident in 15 was a McCann.

DEDCountyMcCannsShare
GlencarLeitrim43 6.6%
CarryglassTyrone20 6.2%
ForemassTyrone39 5.7%
BreanriskLongford66 5.3%
BallyboghillDublin17 5.2%
BallinafadMayo32 5.2%
ClonmoreOffaly20 5.0%
Belderg MoreMayo26 4.7%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Mac Cana of Clann Breasail (Clanbrassil)

Clann Breasail and Clancann, on the southern shore of Lough Neagh; later the baronies of Oneilland East and West · Armagh, Tyrone

Woulfe calls the MacCanns lords of Cinél Aonghusa, or Clann Breasail, south of Lough Neagh. Wikipedia describes them taking over Clanbrassil from the O'Garveys and stretching it over the whole of Oneilland and into part of the later barony of Dungannon Middle in Tyrone, so that the area was recorded as 'McCan's Country'. They held it under the O'Neills, and Donall MaCanna was still styled lord of Clanbrassil in 1598.[1][8][2][9]

The name over time

History

A disputed meaning

Most writers agree that McCann represents Mac Cana or Mac Canna, but they do not agree on what it means. Woulfe, writing in 1923, took it to mean 'son of Annadh' and thought Mac Anna the more correct Irish spelling. Wikipedia and Wiktionary derive it instead from cana, 'a wolf cub', a word also used figuratively of a young warrior. Woulfe's own entry for the rare name Mac Canann glosses Cano or Cana as 'whelp' or 'wolf', and notes that families of that name were often recorded simply as MacCann, which adds to the confusion.[1][3][6][2][4]

Lords of Clanbrassil

The McCanns' homeland lay on the southern shore of Lough Neagh in north Armagh. Wikipedia describes two districts there, Clanbrassil east of the River Bann and Clancann to the west, the second named after the family itself. Clanbrassil had first belonged to the O'Garveys before the Mac Cana took it over and enlarged it until it covered all of Oneilland and reached into Tyrone. Woulfe gives the territory the alternative name Cinél Aonghusa. After the baronies were drawn, the old Clanbrassil became Oneilland East, whose Irish name is Uí Nialláin Thoir.[8][10][1]

Ancestry traditions

Accounts of the family's deeper ancestry differ. Wikipedia reports a tradition tracing them to Colla Dá Chríoch and the Airgíalla, but also calls them a branch of the Cenél nEógain, the dynasty of the O'Neills. Burke's General Armory, drawing on the records of Ulster's Office, makes their ancestor Cana, lord of Clanbrassil, a younger son of Mahon, lord of Oriel, from whom the MacMahons of Monaghan also descended. Oriel is the English name for Airgíalla, so Burke's account sits closer to the first tradition. All of these are traditional pedigrees rather than documented history.[2][7][11]

Under the O'Neills

By the 16th century the O'Neills of Tír Eoghain had taken control of Oneilland, and Wikipedia describes the McCanns as a vassal family of the O'Neills who had been settled around Portadown since before the 13th century. The town's Irish name, Port an Dúnáin, 'landing place of the little fort', probably refers to a McCann stronghold. The Annals of the Four Masters remember one chief, Amhlaoibh Mac Cana, for his chivalry, his energy and the strong drink he made from the apples of his orchard. The last chief on record, Donall MaCanna, was still called lord of Clanbrassil in 1598.[8][9][2]

Plantation and 1641

After the defeat of the O'Neills in the Nine Years' War, Oneilland was reserved for English undertakers in the Plantation of Ulster and divided into grants. When the rising of 1641 broke out, dispossessed Irish led by the McCanns, Magennises and O'Neills captured the planter house known as Obins Castle at Portadown, and the killing of about a hundred settlers at the Bann bridge there was probably the work of men under Toole McCann. Matheson's report on births registered in 1890 still found the name chiefly in Antrim, Armagh, Dublin and Tyrone.[8][9][12]

Places linked to the name

  • Portadown (Port an Dúnáin), Co. Armagh — Lay in Clancann, named after the McCanns; its 'little fort' was probably theirs, and McCanns led the 1641 attack there.[9]
  • Oneilland East (Clanbrassil) (Uí Nialláin Thoir), Co. Armagh — The barony that corresponds to the old district of Clanbrassil, east of the Bann on Lough Neagh.[10][8]
  • Oneilland West (Clancann), Co. Armagh — Takes in the district of Clancann, west of the Bann, named after the Mac Cana family.[8]

Everyday lives

The McCanns in the census

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

McCanns All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the McCann bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +13.0 points vs Ireland
McCanns 86.6%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −5.5 points vs Ireland
McCanns 7.7%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −6.1 points vs Ireland
McCanns 4.0%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −1.4 points vs Ireland
McCanns 1.7%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −7.9 points vs Ireland
McCanns 7.4%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −6.6 points vs Ireland
McCanns 6.9%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −3.9 points vs Ireland
McCanns 9.6%
All of Ireland 13.5%

55 McCanns spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −4.3 points vs Ireland
McCanns 76.1%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −3.4 points vs Ireland
McCanns 82.4%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,596 households lower than Ireland
McCanns 4.49
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 lower than Ireland
McCanns 6.07
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −1.9 points vs Ireland
McCanns 77.9%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,285
Farmer's son466
General labourer288
Farmer's daughter256
House keeper191
Labourer188
Agricultural labourer181
Farm labourer178
Farm servant168
Linen weaver165

Born outside Ireland

3.2% of McCanns in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England128
Scotland69
United States24
India3
Australia & NZ2

Median age: 24 in 1901, 26 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the McCanns

Men and boys

  1. John1,204
  2. Patrick908
  3. James873
  4. Thomas607
  5. Michael432
  6. Joseph278
  7. William273
  8. Peter233
  9. Edward231
  10. Hugh218

Women and girls

  1. Mary1,301
  2. Bridget623
  3. Margaret376
  4. Annie369
  5. Catherine367
  6. Ellen311
  7. Elizabeth300
  8. Maggie261
  9. Sarah261
  10. Anne231

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
McCann7,1957,1852,939Search

Related forms

  • MacCann, MacCan, McCan — The usual English forms of Mac Canna and Mac Cana; the Sinn Féin MP Pierce McCan used the single-n spelling.[1][2]
  • M'Canna, MacKann — Older written forms recorded by Woulfe.[1]
  • MacCanne, McCanne — Spellings with a final e, found among some emigrant lines.[2]
  • McGann, MacGann, Magann — From the variant Mag Canna, which Woulfe treats as the same name.[5][2]
  • MacConnon, Connon — From Mac Canann, a different and rarer name that was often written MacCann.[6]

Diaspora

The McCanns abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
McCann35,408983rd

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

Heraldry

Is there a McCann coat of arms?

Arms were granted to particular families, so there is no crest for everyone named McCann. Burke's General Armory records arms for the Mac Can lords of Clanbrassil, registered in Ulster's Office: blue, fretted with gold, with a red boar on a silver horizontal band, a salmon swimming as the crest, and the motto 'Crescit sub pondere virtus' ('virtue grows under a burden').[7]

Websites selling a single “McCann 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 McCann

  • Michael Joseph McCann (died 1883)
    Poet of The Nation whose 'Clanconnell war song' of 1843 became the popular song 'O'Donnell Abú'.
  • Pierce McCan (1882–1919)
    Sinn Féin MP for East Tipperary, elected while imprisoned; died in Gloucester Gaol before the First Dáil met.
  • Owen McCann (1907–1994)
    South African Catholic prelate who led the Cape Town church and became a cardinal in 1965.
  • Les McCann (1935–2023)
    American jazz pianist and singer, a pioneer of soul jazz, known for 'Compared to What'.
  • Fergus McCann (born 1941)
    Scottish-Canadian businessman who took control of Celtic in 1994 and rescued it from financial collapse.
  • Donal McCann (1943–1999)
    Dublin stage and screen actor, celebrated in Brian Friel's plays and John Huston's film The Dead.
  • Eamonn McCann (born 1943)
    Derry journalist, author and political activist, MLA for Foyle from 2016 to 2017.
  • Jim McCann (1944–2015)
    Dublin folk singer, a member of The Dubliners, best known for his recording of 'Grace'.
  • Colum McCann (born 1965)
    Dublin-born novelist whose Let the Great World Spin won the 2009 US National Book Award.
  • Rory McCann (born 1969)
    Scottish actor best known as Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane in Game of Thrones.
  • Brian McCann (born 1984)
    American baseball catcher, a seven-time All-Star and 2017 World Series winner.

Questions

Questions about the McCann name

Is McCann an Irish surname?

Yes. McCann is the English form of the Gaelic Mac Cana or Mac Canna. The family were lords of Clann Breasail, or Clanbrassil, on the southern shore of Lough Neagh in north Co. Armagh, and held their lands under the O'Neills until the Plantation of Ulster. A smaller number of McCanns may descend from the separate name Mac Canann.[1][6][2][8]

What is McCann in Irish?

The usual Irish form is Mac Cana, also written Mac Canna. Woulfe preferred the spelling Mac Anna and lists Mag Canna as a variant, which produced McGann and Magann. A separate rare name, Mac Canann, was also often written MacCann in English.[1][3][5][6][2]

What does the name McCann mean?

It means 'son of' a man whose name is uncertain. Wikipedia and Wiktionary say the ancestor's name was Cana, 'wolf cub', which could also describe a young warrior. Woulfe instead took the ancestor's name to be Annadh. Burke's General Armory names the founder as Cana, lord of Clanbrassil, but this is a family pedigree rather than proof of the word's meaning.[2][4][1][7]

Where does the McCann name come from?

From north Co. Armagh. The family's territory lay along the southern shore of Lough Neagh, on both sides of the River Bann, in what became the baronies of Oneilland East and West. Portadown grew up in their district of Clancann. Matheson's report on births registered in 1890 found the name mainly in Antrim, Armagh, Dublin and Tyrone.[8][9][12]

Are McCann and McGann the same name?

Often they are. Woulfe treats Mag Canna, the source of McGann, MacGann and Magann, as a variant of Mac Canna, the source of McCann. Not every McGann family need share the Armagh origin, but the two spellings are closely linked.[5][1]

Is there a McCann family crest or coat of arms?

Not one for every McCann. Burke's General Armory records arms for the Mac Can lords of Clanbrassil in Co. Armagh, with a red boar on a silver band over a gold-fretted blue field, a salmon as the crest and the motto 'Crescit sub pondere virtus'. These belonged to that family line, not to the surname as a whole.[7]

Where in Ireland is the McCann surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of McCanns lived in Antrim (1,410), Armagh (1,064), Dublin (761). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Armagh (89 per 10,000), Tyrone (46 per 10,000), Louth (46 per 10,000).

How common was the McCann surname in Ireland?

7,185 people were recorded as McCann in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 99th most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 610.

Looking for a McCann ancestor?

Search every McCann 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, Mac Canna, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, McCann (surname) (2026)
  3. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Anna, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  4. Wiktionary, McCann
  5. Patrick Woulfe, Mag Canna, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Canann, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entry 'Mac Can (Lords of Clanbrassel, co. Armagh)'.
  8. Wikipedia, Oneilland (2026)
  9. Wikipedia, Portadown (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, Oneilland East (2026)
  11. Wikipedia, Airgíalla (2026)
  12. Robert E. Matheson, Special Report on Surnames in Ireland: McCann (1909). Based on births registered in 1890.
  13. 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.
  14. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.