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FINAN Family History

Originally recorded as O' Fionnain, and now O' Finan, Finan, Fynan, and Fanning, this is an ancient Gaelic surname. Although Irish it derives from the word "fionn" meaning fair, and whilst widely held to be associated with St Finan, of which more below, it probably indicates a surname of Viking ethnic origins. It is not widely known that much of eastern Ireland was held by the Vikings from about the year 850 a.d. until circa 1000. During this time their capital was Dublin, in fact that name is Norse not Gaelic.