Neil meaning | Last name Neil origin

See O'Neill - Of the very great antiquity of this distinguished name and family there can be no doubt. At what period the particular ancestor from whom the surname is borrowed flourished, it is hard to say, although a definite date is assigned to him by the Irish genealogists. According to them, he lived in the fourth century of the Christian Era, and was fifty-third in descent from the founder of his race, who existed within about a century and a half of the Deluge! How or when such statements came to be invented and received is not certain. That they are honestly believed by many Irishmen.

The name and origin of the house of O'Neill are traced by Irish annalists to the prince-professor of learning, Niul, A.M. 1800, son of Phenius Pharsa, King of Scythia, whose posterity arriving in Spain, Milesius, 21st in descent from Niul, became King of the northern provinces, and his widow Queen Scota, and sons, about 1200 years B.C., led a colony of ‘Milesians' to Ireland, where Heremon, the youngest, became the first monarch.

Niall the Great, 53rd in descent from Heremon, was King of Ireland, A.D. 388. He subdued the Picts and Britons, and after ravaging the coasts of Gaul, was as sassinated on the banks of the Loire, near Boulogne (!) His army, on its return, carried off, among other captives, St. Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland. For upwards of 600 years afterwards, Niall's descendants exclusively occupied the throne of Ireland. Three kings of his posterity were named after him, viz.: Niall II., surnamed Frassach, who died 770 ; Niall III., surnamed Caille, drowned in the river Callan, A.D. 897; and Niall IV., surnamed Glundubh, "black knee," killed in battle by the Danes of Dublin, A.D. 954. Daniel Ardmach O'Neill, 46th monarch of the Hy-Niall race, grandson of Niall Glundubh, died 1064, andwas succeeded by Malachy, a South Hy-Niall, who died in 1048. King Mortough Mac Neill died A.D. 1168, and was the last native monarch of Ireland of the Hy Nialls.

Now few of the crowned heads and noblest houses of Europe trace their pedigree beyond the eighth or ninth century-many not so far by hundreds of years. Neither is a higher antiquity assumed for them, even by their most flattering genealogists. With the Celtic ex-regal and noble families, however, a love for exaggerated pedigree seems to have been always prevalent, and the Welsh, the Irish, and the Scotch, are equally addicted to it. But whoever looks dispassionately at that great gulph of darkness, the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the epoch of Charlemagne, say the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, and observes the obscurity which envelopes the history even of nations, will hesitate to accept as authentic, the minute family de tails, and regular genealogical descents, presented to his notice by the historians of many Celtic families.

The surname Neil is the variation of the O'Neill. Grandson of Niall meaning "champion or military hero".

A variant form of Neal. Descendant of Nigel or Neil meaning "champion".

Neil is the variant of the Neeley. The son of Conghal meaning "high valor".

Descendant of Neil meaning "champion".

A form of O'Neill. Descendant of Neill, or Niall Noygiollach, Niall of the Nine hostages, or Niall the great, Monarch of Ireland in the fourth century.

The lastname Neil is a variant form of Arnell. Corruptions of Arnold.

Neil is a variation of Neale. The Norman personal name Nigel was sometimes softened to this form, and some of our Neales may be of Norman blood; It is believed that most of the families of the name have sprung from the O'Neills of Ireland.

A variant of O'Neill. Of the very great antiquity of this distinguished name and family there can be no doubt. At what period the particular ancestor from whom the surname is borrowed flourished, it is hard to say, although a definite date is assigned to him by the Irish genealogists. According to them, he lived in the fourth century of the Christian Era, and was fifty-third in descent from the founder of his race, who existed within about a century and a half of the Deluge! How or when such statements came to be invented and received is not certain. That they are honestly believed by many Irishmen.

The name and origin of the house of O'Neill are traced by Irish annalists to the prince-professor of learning, Niul, A.M. 1800, son of Phenius Pharsa, King of Scythia, whose posterity arriving in Spain, Milesius, 21st in descent from Niul, became King of the northern provinces, and his widow Queen Scota, and sons, about 1200 years B.C., led a colony of ‘Milesians' to Ireland, where Heremon, the youngest, became the first monarch.

Niall the Great, 53rd in descent from Heremon, was King of Ireland, A.D. 388. He subdued the Picts and Britons, and after ravaging the coasts of Gaul, was as sassinated on the banks of the Loire, near Boulogne (!) His army, on its return, carried off, among other captives, St. Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland. For upwards of 600 years afterwards, Niall's descendants exclusively occupied the throne of Ireland. Three kings of his posterity were named after him, viz.: Niall II., surnamed Frassach, who died 770 ; Niall III., surnamed Caille, drowned in the river Callan, A.D. 897; and Niall IV., surnamed Glundubh, "black knee," killed in battle by the Danes of Dublin, A.D. 954. Daniel Ardmach O'Neill, 46th monarch of the Hy-Niall race, grandson of Niall Glundubh, died 1064, andwas succeeded by Malachy, a South Hy-Niall, who died in 1048. King Mortough Mac Neill died A.D. 1168, and was the last native monarch of Ireland of the Hy Nialls.

Now few of the crowned heads and noblest houses of Europe trace their pedigree beyond the eighth or ninth century-many not so far by hundreds of years. Neither is a higher antiquity assumed for them, even by their most flattering genealogists. With the Celtic ex-regal and noble families, however, a love for exaggerated pedigree seems to have been always prevalent, and the Welsh, the Irish, and the Scotch, are equally addicted to it. But whoever looks dispassionately at that great gulph of darkness, the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the epoch of Charlemagne, say the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, and observes the obscurity which envelopes the history even of nations, will hesitate to accept as authentic, the minute family de tails, and regular genealogical descents, presented to his notice by the historians of many Celtic families.