Family name origins & meanings
- Irish : reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÉighnigh ‘descendant of Éighneach’ (see Heagney).
- Irish : Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÉanna ‘descendant of Éanna’, a very common personal name of uncertain meaning. It was borne by various early saints, most notably St Éanna of Aran. The name has been erroneously understood as containing the element éan ‘bird’ and as a result the surname was sometimes Anglicized as Bird.