Connell

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of Irish and Scottish Gaelic origin carried by many people ; a small village on the shore of Loch Etive in Argyll, western Scotland
2. An Irish or Scottish surname of Gaelic origin borne by individuals and families ; a small coastal village in Argyll on the western side of Scotland
3. A hereditary surname with roots in Ireland and Scotland ; the name of a small settlement beside Loch Etive in the Argyll region of Scotland

Etymology: The surname Connell is an anglicised form of the Irish "Ó Conaill", meaning "descendant of Conall". The "Ó" is the Irish word for "grandson" or "descendant", so the name records a lineage rather than an individual. Conall itself was a personal name, and it traces back to a much older Celtic root, the Proto-Celtic "*Kunowalos", which translates literally as "dog chief" or "hound chief". A name that once praised a warrior as the leader of hounds became, over many generations, a hereditary family label. The name is therefore a fossil of Gaelic naming practice, in which surnames were built by attaching "Ó" to a forefather's name. Because the families were identified by the ancestor, the name outlived its original bearer by centuries, and it now appears in English-speaking countries as a common surname in its own right.