From The Historical Research Center
The Irish surname Cannon is used as an anglicized form of three distinct
Gaelic names, Mac Canann, O Canann and O Canain. All three surnames are
patronymic in origin, being derived from the foremane of the original
bearer; thus the surnames all indicate descendants of a man who bore the
name Canan. The forename itself derives from the Irish "cana", meaning a
"wolf cub". The Sept Mac Canann (or MacCannon) is the Oriel Sept,
originating around CLones and spreading southwards to Monaghan in the
eleventh century. Today the surname is generally found in counties Meath
and Louch, and the city of Dublin, as is its alternative anglicized form
of MacCannon. The sept O Canann (or O'Cannon) was originally of the name
O Canannain, and was an old Tirconnel sept whose chiefs were remembered
by medieval Annalists as the Kings of Cinel Conaill. The sept came under
the domination of the O'Donnells in the thirteenth century, but its
descendants appear today in County Donegal. The sept O'Canain (O'Cannon)
arose among the Ui Maine and is of the same stock as the O'Maddens. The
sept is all but extinct in its native Couty Galway.
It must be added that a number of bearers of the surname may in fact be
of English origin, having settled in Ireland in the seventeenth century
at the time of the Plantations. The English surname derives from the
clerical office of canon, the bearer's ancestor thus having been a member
of the Cathedral Chapter. Finally, several bearers of the surname Cannon
are descended from Huguenot refugees who fled to Ireland to escape
religious persecution in France. The French surname likewise, comes from
the office of canon and is found in France as Canonne and Chanoine.
BCAZON OF ARMS Gules, on a bend argent double-cotised or, a pellet
Crest: A cannon sable mounted on a carriage or.
Origin: Ireland
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