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Help[Facts] Meaning of the name Cuana
Recently there was a post on another message board that asked for the meaning of people's full names. I know that my first name means laurel, but when asked for my second name's meaning I had no idea. The name in question (Cooney) is an anglicised version of the Irish surname O'Cuana, which means 'grandson of Cuana' or 'descendent of Cuana'. The name originated in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland and then travelled south to North Connaught.
What I wanted to know is, does anybody know the meaning of the name Cuana? If you can provide me with any relevant information on this, please do not hesitate to e-mail or reply to this message.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Laura
What I wanted to know is, does anybody know the meaning of the name Cuana? If you can provide me with any relevant information on this, please do not hesitate to e-mail or reply to this message.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Laura
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Replies
I checked MacLysaght's Surnames of Ireland (a very fine resource) and he offered this:
Cooney/Ó Cuana is probably of the same derivation as Coonan/Ó Cuanáin.
Further, Cuanán is probably 'cuan' meaning 'elegant' with the '-án' diminutive suffix.
Two 'probablies' in two separate entries is not encouraging, but this guy knew his stuff and I believe the lack of the accent/fada on the first 'a' (Cuana vs. Cuána) gives credence to the theory.
This contradicts Anneza's thought connecting it to Cuán meaning 'little hound,' but that would certainly be my second choice. The only subject on which I disagree with her is the presumption of '-a' suffixes on Early Irish names. This was neither common for masculine nor feminine names.
Cooney/Ó Cuana is probably of the same derivation as Coonan/Ó Cuanáin.
Further, Cuanán is probably 'cuan' meaning 'elegant' with the '-án' diminutive suffix.
Two 'probablies' in two separate entries is not encouraging, but this guy knew his stuff and I believe the lack of the accent/fada on the first 'a' (Cuana vs. Cuána) gives credence to the theory.
This contradicts Anneza's thought connecting it to Cuán meaning 'little hound,' but that would certainly be my second choice. The only subject on which I disagree with her is the presumption of '-a' suffixes on Early Irish names. This was neither common for masculine nor feminine names.
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On the Home page you can enter Cuan and the search function will find it for you.
The -a on the end of male names used to be common in Anglo-Saxon, and presumably in the earliest versions of Irish Gaelic as well; it faded out in English as a male ending, partly because the pronunciation of final syllables became less distinct and partly because of biblical and Latin names like Maria, Rebecca, Hannah, Helena etc which helped to make the -a ending a female one.
The -a on the end of male names used to be common in Anglo-Saxon, and presumably in the earliest versions of Irish Gaelic as well; it faded out in English as a male ending, partly because the pronunciation of final syllables became less distinct and partly because of biblical and Latin names like Maria, Rebecca, Hannah, Helena etc which helped to make the -a ending a female one.
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Thanks for your help, that's brilliant! :D
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