This unusual name is one of the Anglicized forms of the Old Gaelic Irish "O'Mainnin", meaning "descendant of Mainnin", which is thought to be an assimilated form of "Mainchin", a diminutive of "manch", monk. The sept of O'Mainnin was located in the barony of Tiaquin, County Galway, and their chief's residence was the castle of Clogher. They were an important sept in the Hy Many country, but were not of that group by descent, since their ancestors were the ancient pre-Gaelic Pictish rulers of that area. The name has been Anglicized in a number of forms, including Mannin, Manning, Mannion, Manion, Munnion and Munion; Manning, Mannion and Munnion are found particularly in England, and some of the Mannings of Dublin and Cork are of English descent. Interestingly, the earliest recordings of the name are found in England: the marriage of John Mannyng and Dorathy Ulcott was recorded at St. Margaret's, Westminster, in London, on July 1st 1540. Examples of the variant form Mun(n)ion are mainly found in the southern counties of England and in London: Winifred Munnion married John Lush on January 31st 1618, at St. Mary Somerset, London; Marry Munnion was married to Thomas Munfield in Cowden, Kent, on November 1st 1667; and Henrietta, daughter of Henry and Ann Munnion, was christened in Ardingley, Sussex, on May 16th 1841. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Munion, which was dated November 20th 1603, witness to the christening of his son, Robert, at St. Andrew's, Plymouth, Devonshire, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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.

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