Recorded in the spellings of Tynan, and much more rarely Tinan, Tivnan, Tivenan, and Tynnan, this is an Irish surname. Originating from Counties Leix and Kilkenny and well recorded there in the original census of Ireland in 1659, the surname is anglicized form of the ancient Gaelic O'Teimhneain. The precise meaning of the surname is unclear, but it probably has some religious connotation, and appears to describe the son of the descendant of a follower of a holy man. It has to be said that trying to pin precise meanings on surnames which have undergone at least two language changes and fifteen hundred years of development, is fraught with improbabilities. What is certain is that in 1665 at least eleven families of Tynan were landowners in County Tipperary of sufficient status to be recorded in the Hearth Tax rolls of that year. Amongst the lists of emigrants who fled Ireland at the height of the Potato Famine in 1846, was Owen Tynan aged 19. He is listed as arriving in New York on the ship 'Europe' which left Liverpool on June 15th 1846. Other surviving recordings include Mary Tinan who married William Mcdermot at Dublin, on April 19th 1804, and Patrick Tynan of Castlecomer, County Kilkenny on July 5th 1868. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Clift Tounon. This was dated April 1st 1756, at the city of Limerick, County Limerick, during the reign of King George 11nd of England, 1727 - 1760. Over the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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