The origin of this name is Irish, however the particular sept is less certain. The mass emigration of the 1840's following the potatoe famine overwhelmed port registration facilities leading to a wide range of corrupted spellings. Research suggests the development is either from the rare Connerson or the almost equally rare O'Connaughton anglicized as Connerton - Winney Connerton being a 17 year old girl who emigrated to New York from Liverpool in March 1846. In the Gaelic 'Conn' means 'the hound', and 'aghan' or 'achain' fair - as in fair haired. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of O'Connachtain which was dated 1659 The All Ireland Census during the reign of Richard Cromwell the Lord Protector 1658 - 1659. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.