surnames.ie

Irish surname · 83rd most common in 1911

O'Kane

Also spelt Kane, OKane

O'Kane and Kane come from the Irish Ó Catháin, 'descendant of Cathán'. The leading family, also written O'Cahan, were a branch of the Cenél nEógain who ruled Keenaght and much of what is now Co. Derry under the O'Neills until the Plantation of Ulster.

Irish Ó CatháinIrish Uí ChatháinIrish Mac Catháin
1901 census
8,181
#79 · 19 per 10,000
1911 census
7,760
#83 · 18 per 10,000
1926 census
2,918
#190 · 10 per 10,000
Most numerous
Londonderry
Highest share: Londonderry

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: chiefly the O'Cahans of Keenaght in Co. Derry, a branch of the Cenél nEógain, with a smaller unrelated Ó Catháin family in Co. Galway.[1][2]

Ó Catháin
“descendant of Cathán”[1][2]
Woulfe's headword. He lists O'Cahan, O'Kane, Kane, Cain and Keane among its many English spellings.
Uí Chatháin
“the descendants of Cathán”[2]
The plural form used for the family as a whole.
Mac Catháin
“son of Cathán”[3][4]
A separate surname. Woulfe gives it to a Clare church family, usually anglicised Keane, and calls it very rare in Ulster. Wikipedia's Kane article treats it as a source of Kane in Ireland.

The name is built on the personal name Cathán, usually explained as “a pet form of a name beginning with Cath-”. Woulfe explains Cathán as an affectionate short form of one of the many early Irish names beginning with cath, 'battle'. Wikipedia names the founder of the Ulster family as Cathán Ua Néill.[1][2]

Pronunciation

O'Kane: oh-KAYN

Place

Where the O'Kanes 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: 13.9 per 10,000 (234 people) Waterford: 6.6 per 10,000 (54 people) Dublin: 19.9 per 10,000 (954 people) Kilkenny: 4.3 per 10,000 (32 people) Carlow: 10.2 per 10,000 (37 people) Limerick: 2.4 per 10,000 (35 people) Louth: 18.4 per 10,000 (116 people) Tipperary: 3.9 per 10,000 (59 people) Roscommon: 12.7 per 10,000 (119 people) Meath: 15.6 per 10,000 (102 people) Wicklow: 9 per 10,000 (55 people) Cavan: 12.6 per 10,000 (115 people) Cork: 0.6 per 10,000 (23 people) Clare: 2.1 per 10,000 (22 people) Galway: 10.8 per 10,000 (197 people) Mayo: 5.7 per 10,000 (109 people) Sligo: 12.1 per 10,000 (96 people) Leitrim: 13.3 per 10,000 (84 people) Offaly: 11.4 per 10,000 (65 people) Laois: 14.1 per 10,000 (77 people) Kildare: 19.1 per 10,000 (128 people) Kerry: 5 per 10,000 (80 people) Monaghan: 7.4 per 10,000 (53 people) Wexford: 8.7 per 10,000 (89 people) Longford: 29.2 per 10,000 (128 people) Westmeath: 8.6 per 10,000 (52 people) Tyrone: 34.6 per 10,000 (494 people) Antrim: 32.4 per 10,000 (1,550 people) Armagh: 13.7 per 10,000 (164 people) Fermanagh: 7.9 per 10,000 (48 people) Londonderry: 139.8 per 10,000 (1,954 people) Down: 14.2 per 10,000 (435 people)
fewerup to 143 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Londonderry

140 per 10,000

1,954 O'Kanes · 7.91× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Londonderry 140
  2. Tyrone 35
  3. Antrim 32
  4. Longford 29
  5. Dublin 20
  6. Kildare 19
  7. Louth 18
  8. Meath 16

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
Antrim1,5811,550—3532—
Armagh190164—1514—
Carlow23374161012
Cavan101115128101316
Clare23225221
Cork322336111
Donegal264234255151417
Down412435—1414—
Dublin7619541,040172021
Fermanagh5848—98—
Galway32719714717119
Kerry1398061854
Kildare116128153191926
Kilkenny333210441
Laois917767161413
Leitrim778472111313
Limerick643531422
Londonderry2,0661,954—143140—
Longford155128101332925
Louth141116139221822
Mayo12810987765
Meath88102116131619
Monaghan225351378
Offaly746554121110
Roscommon172119123171315
Sligo108964113126
Tipperary815936543
Tyrone506494—3435—
Waterford865471071
Westmeath8052291395
Wexford11989561196
Wicklow6355321196

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where O'Kanes made up the largest share of the population. In Slaght, Co. Londonderry, about one resident in 7 was a O'Kane.

DEDCountyO'KanesShare
SlaghtLondonderry95 13.7%
GlenshaneLondonderry104 13.4%
BanagherLondonderry96 8.8%
CushkillaryGalway41 7.8%
GlenkeenLondonderry68 7.4%
LisnacreaghtTyrone21 5.5%
SwatraghLondonderry104 5.4%
OwenreaghLondonderry30 5.1%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Ó Catháin of Keenaght (O'Cahan's Country)

Keenaght and Coleraine, the Roe valley around Limavady and Dungiven · Derry, Antrim

A branch of the Cenél nEógain who moved east from the Laggan in the 12th century and took Keenaght from its earlier rulers, the Ó Conchobhair. They held the lordship of Keenaght and Coleraine, known as O'Cahan's Country, as the chief vassals of the O'Neills until their lands were confiscated in the Plantation of Ulster. Dunseverick Castle on the Antrim coast was also among their strongholds.[1][2][5][6]

Ó Catháin of the Uí Fiachrach

Co. Galway · Galway

Woulfe records a second Ó Catháin family belonging to the Uí Fiachrach in Galway. Wikipedia calls this Connacht family unrelated to the Ulster O'Cahans and names its earliest recorded member as Eoghan, abbot of Clonfert, who died in 980.[1][2]

Ó Catháin of Thomond

Thomond · Clare

Woulfe mentions a tradition that a branch of the Derry family moved to Thomond at an early date. He gives no further detail, and adds that there were probably several distinct families of the name.[1]

The name over time

History

A branch of the Cenél nEógain

The Ulster O'Cahans belonged to the Cenél nEógain, the northern Uí Néill people descended from Eógan, a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Wikipedia dates the family to the 11th century and names its founder as Cathán Ua Néill; the annals first notice the sept in 1138. They began in the Laggan, in what is now east Donegal, and pushed east in the 12th century into Keenaght, displacing the Ó Conchobhair. The barony's name goes back to the Ciannachta Glenn Geimin, who had held the district since the 5th century.[2][7][5]

Lords of O'Cahan's Country

For centuries the O'Cahans were the leading sept under the O'Neills, and it was their privilege to throw a shoe over the head of a newly made O'Neill chief as a sign that his rule was accepted. They paid heavily for the alliance: Wikipedia says fifteen O'Cahan chiefs fell at the battle of Down in 1260, and Burke names Manus O'Cahan among the dead. A carved effigy in the old priory church at Dungiven is linked with the chief Cooey na Gall; Wikipedia's town article gives his burial as 1385, while its family article suggests the effigy is later.[2][8][9][10]

Families of O'Cahan's Country

Several other surnames grew up within the lordship. Woulfe traces the MacCloskeys of Derry to Bloscadh Ó Catháin, who lived in the 12th century, and describes the Mac Aibhne family (MacEvinney) as another offshoot of the O'Kanes. The Ó Maoilmheana family (Mulvenna) served the O'Kanes as ollavs, or learned professionals, and the Ó Maoláin (Mullan) and MacGilligan families were among their followers. The O'Kanes had themselves pushed the Ó Cormaic family out of Tirkeeran.[11][12][13][14][15][5]

Donnell Ballagh and the end of the lordship

The last chief, Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan, fought beside his overlord Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, in the 1590s and married Tyrone's daughter Rose in 1598. After Sir Henry Docwra laid waste his lands he came to terms with the Crown, and he did not join the Flight of the Earls in 1607. A promised grant of his lands was withdrawn, and in 1608, after his brother joined Cahir O'Doherty's rising, he was arrested. He was never tried and died in the Tower of London around 1617, though one historian puts his death nearer 1626.[16][2]

After the Plantation

By the late 16th century O'Cahan's Country had become the county of Coleraine, and in the Plantation of Ulster it was joined with neighbouring land to form Co. Londonderry. At Limavady, Sir Thomas Phillips received a large grant in 1610 that included an O'Cahan castle. Some of the family went abroad or into arms: Manus O'Cahan led Irish troops for Montrose in Scotland and was hanged at Edinburgh in 1645. Others conformed, such as Richard O'Cahan of Co. Antrim, who took the name Kane in 1688 and later governed Menorca.[2][17][18][19]

Places linked to the name

  • Keenaght (Cianachta), Co. Derry — The barony at the heart of O'Cahan's Country, named after the Ciannachta Glenn Geimin.[5]
  • Limavady (Léim an Mhadaidh), Co. Derry — The 'dog's leap' of O'Cahan legend; an O'Cahan castle here passed to Sir Thomas Phillips in 1610.[17]
  • Dungiven (Dún Geimhin), Co. Derry — Ruled by the O'Cahans from the 12th to the 17th century; its priory holds the tomb associated with Cooey na Gall O'Cahan.[10][2]
  • Dunseverick Castle, Co. Antrim — A coastal stronghold of the O'Cahans before it passed to the MacDonnells; destroyed by Robert Monro's troops in the 1640s.[6][2]

Everyday lives

The O'Kanes in the census

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

O'Kanes All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the O'Kane bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +7.9 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 81.5%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −5.4 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 7.8%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −1.4 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 8.7%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −1.1 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 2.0%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −5.2 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 10.1%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −5.5 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 8.0%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −4.3 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 9.2%
All of Ireland 13.5%

81 O'Kanes spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −5.0 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 75.4%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −2.9 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 82.9%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,672 households lower than Ireland
O'Kanes 4.56
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 about the same as Ireland
O'Kanes 6.49
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −3.2 points vs Ireland
O'Kanes 76.6%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,365
Farmer's son601
Farmer's daughter304
Seamstress302
Agricultural labourer282
General labourer266
Farm servant260
Labourer216
Farm labourer179
House keeper161

Born outside Ireland

7.5% of O'Kanes in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England459
Scotland77
United States27
India3
Wales1
Canada1

Median age: 25 in 1901, 26 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the O'Kanes

Men and boys

  1. John1,368
  2. Patrick1,001
  3. James901
  4. Thomas631
  5. Michael537
  6. William459
  7. Joseph319
  8. Edward217
  9. Daniel200
  10. Peter196

Women and girls

  1. Mary1,438
  2. Bridget607
  3. Margaret447
  4. Annie435
  5. Catherine383
  6. Ellen355
  7. Sarah318
  8. Elizabeth289
  9. Jane271
  10. Maggie249

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
Kane6,1135,5602,681Search
OKane2,0682,200237Search

Related forms

  • O'Cahan — The older English form, used by historians for the medieval family.[1][2]
  • Kane — The form without the O prefix, listed by Woulfe and Wikipedia among the anglicised forms of Ó Catháin.[1][7]
  • Cain, Cane, Cahan — Further spellings of Ó Catháin that Woulfe records.[1]
  • Keane, O'Keane — Woulfe lists these as forms of Ó Catháin too, but Keane in Clare usually stands for Mac Catháin, and in Connacht Keane and Kane can also come from Mac Aodháin. Keane has its own page.[1][3][20]
  • MacCloskey — A distinct surname from an O'Kane offshoot, the descendants of Bloscadh Ó Catháin.[11]

Diaspora

The O'Kanes abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Kane50,584680th
OKane2,62111936th

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

Heraldry

Is there a O'Kane coat of arms?

Arms were granted to particular families, so no single crest belongs to every O'Kane. Burke records arms for the O'Cahans, chiefs of Limavady and the Route, a complex shield with a red hand, a salmon and a lion among its charges, a mountain cat as crest and the motto 'Felis demulcta mitis'. For the O'Cahans of Ballynaclosky in Co. Derry he gives simpler arms of three gold salmon on red with the motto 'Inclytus virtute'.[9]

Websites selling a single “O'Kane 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 O'Kane

  • Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan (died c. 1617)
    Last O'Cahan chief of Keenaght; held without trial in the Tower of London until his death.
  • Rory Dall O'Cahan (c. 1580–c. 1653)
    Harper and composer remembered for 'Give Me Your Hand'; some scholars doubt he existed.
  • Richard Kane (1662–1736)
    Antrim-born soldier, born O'Cahan, who governed Menorca for Britain and acted as governor of Gibraltar.
  • Sir Robert Kane (1809–1890)
    Dublin chemist, author of The Industrial Resources of Ireland and first president of Queen's College Cork.
  • Paul Kane (1810–1871)
    Mallow-born Canadian painter whose sketches are early records of Indigenous life in the West.
  • Elisha Kent Kane (1820–1857)
    United States Navy medical officer and Arctic explorer.
  • Jake O'Kane (born 1961)
    Belfast stand-up comedian and long-serving panellist on the BBC comedy show The Blame Game.
  • Dene O'Kane (born 1963)
    New Zealand snooker player who reached the world top twenty.
  • Deirdre O'Kane (born 1968)
    Drogheda-born comedian and actress known for stand-up, film and television.
  • Harry Kane (born 1993)
    England football captain and Bayern Munich striker; his father was born in Galway.

Questions

Questions about the O'Kane name

Is O'Kane an Irish surname?

Yes. O'Kane and Kane are English forms of the Gaelic Ó Catháin. The best-known family were the O'Cahans of Keenaght in Co. Derry, a branch of the Cenél nEógain and the chief allies of the O'Neills. Woulfe also records an unrelated Ó Catháin family in Galway and a branch said to have moved to Thomond.[1][2]

What is O'Kane in Irish?

The Irish form is Ó Catháin, 'descendant of Cathán', and the family as a group are the Uí Chatháin. Woulfe explains Cathán as a pet form of a longer name beginning with Cath-. Early English records spelled the name in many ways, among them O Cahane, O Kahane and O'Caughan, before O'Kane and Kane became usual.[1][2]

Are O'Kane, Kane and O'Cahan the same name?

Usually, yes. O'Cahan is the older English spelling, used for the medieval lords of Keenaght, while O'Kane and Kane are the forms most families use today. All three normally stand for Ó Catháin. A Kane in Connacht may instead descend from Mac Aodháin, which Woulfe says was pronounced Ó Caodháin there.[1][2][20][21]

Are O'Kane and Keane the same name?

Sometimes. Woulfe lists Keane among the English forms of Ó Catháin, so some Keanes share the O'Kane origin. But Keane in Clare normally represents Mac Catháin, the Clare family who were coarbs, or hereditary successors, of St Senan at Iniscattery, and in Connacht it can come from Mac Aodháin. Keane has its own page on this site.[1][3][20]

Where does the O'Kane name come from?

The O'Cahans began in the Laggan in east Donegal and moved east in the 12th century into Keenaght, the Roe valley around Limavady and Dungiven. There they ruled O'Cahan's Country, which covered much of present Co. Derry, until the Plantation of Ulster. By Woulfe's time the name was common all over Ireland.[2][5][1]

Is there an O'Kane family crest or coat of arms?

Not one for everybody named O'Kane or Kane. Burke records arms for the O'Cahan chiefs of Limavady and the Route, with a mountain cat as crest and the motto 'Felis demulcta mitis', and separate arms of three salmon for the O'Cahans of Ballynaclosky with the motto 'Inclytus virtute'. Each coat belonged to a particular family line.[9]

Where in Ireland is the O'Kane surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of O'Kanes lived in Londonderry (1,954), Antrim (1,550), Dublin (954). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Londonderry (140 per 10,000), Tyrone (35 per 10,000), Antrim (32 per 10,000).

How common was the O'Kane surname in Ireland?

7,760 people were recorded as Kane or OKane in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 83rd most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 565.

Looking for a O'Kane ancestor?

Search every O'Kane 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 Catháin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, O'Cahan (2026)
  3. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Catháin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  4. Wikipedia, Kane (surname) (2026)
  5. Wikipedia, Keenaght (barony) (2026)
  6. Wikipedia, Dunseverick Castle (2026)
  7. Wikipedia, O'Kane (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Battle of Down (2026)
  9. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'O'Cahan (Chiefs of Limavady and the Rout)' and 'O'Cahan (Ballynaclosky)'.
  10. Wikipedia, Dungiven (2026)
  11. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Bhloscaidh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  12. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Aibhne, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  13. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Maoilmheana, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  14. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Maoláin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  15. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Cormaic, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  16. Wikipedia, Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan (2026)
  17. Wikipedia, Limavady (2026)
  18. Wikipedia, Manus O'Cahan's Regiment (2026)
  19. Wikipedia, Richard Kane (2026)
  20. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Aodháin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  21. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Caodháin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  22. 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.
  23. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.