Heffernan is an Irish surname derived from the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

''Ó hIfearnáin'', which comes from the byname ''Ifearnán'' literally meaning 'little demon' or more metaphorically 'daredevil'. Heffernan gives rise to alternatives such as Heffernon and Hefferan. The name sometimes contains the O' prefix. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Heffermans were the chiefly family of the

Uaithni The Uaithni were a people of early Ireland, who in early medieval times lived in north-eastern County Limerick and the adjoining part of County Tipperary, and had traditions that they once lived west of the River Shannon. Their name derives from a ...

who were a tribe of the

Erainn The Iverni (, ') were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis (, ') in their territory, and observes that this se ...

who were the second wave of Celts to settle in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

between about 500 and 100 BC.

List of people surnamed Heffernan

* Angie Heffernan, Fijian activist *

Bill Heffernan William Daniel Heffernan (born 3 March 1943), is an Australian former politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Senate representing the state of New South Wales from September 1996 to May 2016. Early life and background Heffernan was bo ...

(born 1943), Australian senator * Bob Heffernan, Australian footballer *

Chris Heffernan Chris Joel Heffernan (born 29 January 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Known affectionately as "Heff", Heffernan began his career in 1997 with the Essendon Football Cl ...

, Australian footballer * Christian Heffernan, Canadian football player *

Christy Heffernan Christy Heffernan (born 26 December 1957) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a full-forward for the Kilkenny senior team. Born in Glenmore, County Kilkenny, Heffernan first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-two when ...

, Irish sportsman *

Daniel Heffernan Daniel Heffernan (born 25 May 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a striker. He has previously played in England, Australia and Indonesia. In 2019, Heffernan returned to England and signed with Whalley Range FC. Career Born in Manchest ...

, English footballer *

Dean Heffernan Dean James Heffernan (born 19 May 1980) is a former professional football (soccer) player. Club career With the Central Coast Mariners he scored 8 goals from left back in 24 games and was subsequently named in FourFourTwo's A-League dream team. ...

, Australian soccer player *

Frank Heffernan James Francis Heffernan (January 12, 1892 – December 21, 1938) was a Canadian ice hockey, hockey Defenceman (ice hockey), defenceman and coach. He played several years of senior ice hockey, senior hockey for amateur clubs before spending part of ...

(1892–1938), Canadian hockey player *

Gavin Heffernan Gavin Heffernan (born April 2, 1980) is a Canadian filmmaker/screenwriter/photographer. He co-wrote the psychological horror feature '' The Taking of Deborah Logan'' (2014) and Paramount's '' Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension'' (2015) w ...

, Canadian filmmaker *

Gerald Heffernan Gerald Joseph Heffernan (July 24, 1916 – January 16, 2007) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He played 85 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens from 1941 to 1944. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1936 to 1946, ...

, Canadian ice hockey player *

Helen Heffernan Helen Mary Heffernan is a New Zealand microbiologist, specialising in antibiotic resistance. In 2020, she was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to health. The Institute of Environmental Science and Research a ...

, New Zealand microbiologist *

James Heffernan (Irish politician) James Heffernan (born 3 October 1979) is an Irish former Labour Party politician. Background He is from a Limerick hurling family, with his father and brother, both called Pat, having played for the county. Heffernan was heavily involved with ...

, Irish politician * James J. Heffernan (1888–1967), U.S. Representative from New York *

John Heffernan (disambiguation) John Heffernan may refer to: * John Heffernan (American actor) (1934–2018), American actor * John Heffernan (British actor) John Heffernan (born 30 June 1981) is a British actor. He has worked with the English Touring Theatre, the Royal Shake ...

, several people *

Josephine Heffernan Josephine E. Heffernan (11 March 1876 – 1962) was an Irish-American nurse who served during the First World War. She was born in Dublin and immigrated to the US in 1906, where she joined the United States Army in 1913. She served as a nurse ...

(1876 - 1962), Irish-American nurse *

Kate Heffernan Kate Alexandra Heffernan (born 7 October 1999) is a New Zealand netball international and former cricketer. She represented the New Zealand national netball team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Netball World Cup. She captained Ne ...

(born 1999), New Zealand cricketer *

Kevin Heffernan (disambiguation) Kevin Heffernan may refer to: *Kevin Heffernan (actor) (born 1968), American actor, writer, producer and director *Kevin Heffernan (Gaelic footballer) Kevin Heffernan (20 August 1929 – 25 January 2013) was an Irish Gaelic footballer and manag ...

, several people *

Killian Heffernan Killian Heffernan (born 10 July 2002) is an Irish professional darts player who currently plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He reached the final of the 2018 BDO World Youth Darts Championship. Career In 2018 he reached t ...

(born 2002), Irish darts player *

Margaret Heffernan Margaret Heffernan (born 16 June 1955) is an entrepreneur, CEO, writer and keynote speaker. She is currently a professor of Practice at the University of Bath School of Management in the UK. Heffernan is the former chief executive officer of ...

, international businesswoman and writer *

Michael Heffernan (disambiguation) Michael Heffernan may refer to: * Michael Heffernan (politician) (1885–1970), Irish politician * Michael Heffernan (hurler) (born 1989), Irish hurler * Michael Heffernan (academic) (born 1959), historical geographer * Mike Heffernan, Aust ...

, several people *

Nathan Heffernan Nathan Stewart Heffernan (August 6, 1920 – April 13, 2007) was an American lawyer and judge. He was the 23rd Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1983 to 1995. Earlier in his career he served as United States Attorney for the ...

(1920–2007), American judge *

Neil Heffernan Neil T. Heffernan (born June 1970 in Worcester, Massachusetts) is a professor of computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is known for his role in the development of the ASSISTments online learning tool and app, which assists st ...

(1970–present), American professor of computer science *

Paul Heffernan Paul Heffernan (born 29 December 1981) is an Irish association football coach and former professional player who is first team coach of Bray Wanderers F.C., Bray Wanderers. A striker (association football), striker, Heffernan played for severa ...

, Irish footballer * Ray Heffernan (disambiguation), several people *

Robert Heffernan Robert Heffernan (born 28 February 1978) is an Irish race walker. Career At the 2000 Olympics he finished in 28th place in the 20 km walk, and at the 2004 Olympics he was disqualified. At the 2008 Olympic Games he improved, coming eighth in t ...

, Irish walker *

Roy Heffernan Laurence Roy Heffernan (12 July 1925 – 24 September 1992) was an Australian professional wrestler. Roy Heffernan toured all over the world, but is most famous for being one half of the original version of the tag team the Fabulous Kangaroos ( ...

(1926–1993), Australian wrestler *

Seamie Heffernan James Anthony "Seamie" Heffernan (born 17 July 1972) is an Irish flat racing jockey associated for most of his career with the stable of horse racing trainer Aidan O'Brien. From a family with no racing connections, Heffernan was introduced to t ...

, Irish jockey *

Virginia Heffernan Virginia Heffernan (born August 8, 1969) is an American journalist and cultural critic. Since 2015, she has been a political columnist at the ''Los Angeles Times'' and a cultural columnist at ''Wired''. From 2003 to 2011, she worked as a staff w ...

, American journalist * William Heffernan, American author * William J. Heffernan (1872–1955), New York politician * William Heffernan III, Connecticut politician

Fictional characters

Carrie Heffernan Carrie Heffernan is a fictional character in the American sitcom ''The King of Queens''. She appears in all of the show's nine seasons and is one of the show's three central characters. The character is portrayed by Leah Remini and live ...

, fictional character in ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, with a total of 207 half-hour episodes spanning nine seasons. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who al ...

'' *

Doug Heffernan Douglas Steven "Doug" Heffernan is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American sitcom ''The King of Queens''. He is portrayed by Kevin James, whose stand-up comedy background inspired the comedic style of the show. Doug, an often i ...

, fictional character in ''

Other uses

* '' Heffernan v. City of Paterson'', a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court case

References

Sources

Heffernan
at behindthename.com {{Authority control Anglicised Irish-language surnames Surnames of Irish origin

List of people surnamed Heffernan

Fictional characters

Other uses

See also

References

Sources