Found it interesting that Sen. John Kennedy (LA) isn't really a Kennedy.

[Beautiful Disaster]

His grandfather's surname was Kannady. It seemed to change with Kennedy's father, A. Preston Kennedy.

Why, I do not know. When? I do not know. It wasn't because they relocated to the United States from another country.

John Kennedy's grandfather, George Britton Kannady, was born in Arkansas.

I know a trivial fucking thing but it really annoys me that he shares the name with JFK.

[JI7]

1. He also use to be a Democrat so if he came from a Democratic family

I can see why they would change it to Kennedy.

[NJCher]

2. I know you're not supposed to comment on peoples looks

But this Louisiana Kennedy is in no way shape or form as good looking as the Massachusetts Kennedys.

He has that plucked chicken look. Alito has it too. They both give me the creeps.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Great research!

And I also dislike that he shares JFK's name, too - he is not a pleasant man. And he tries to come off as some folksy country guy when, in fact, he's highly educated.

[SalamanderSleeps]

9. When he switched party's it is evident a racist demon took possession....

....of a Democratic member of Congress of whom once was a Rhodes Scholar.

It's the only thing that makes sense.

Notice how he now speaks like Boss Hog.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5057540/user-clip-kennedy-emphasis-accent

Or, perhaps it was just the money.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Oh, I've heard him, that's what I meant. And that is a good description of how he speaks

Not to mention, I've seen him be unbelievably cruel, and his viewpoints belie his education. And I had no idea that he was previously a Democrat, he fits in so well with the worst of the Republicans.

[CatWoman]

16. he reminds me of Deputy Dawg

[BlackSkimmer]

4. You really didn't know that?

It’s not an unusual name.

And having that name does not in any way give some value to the person holding it.

[Tanuki]

5. I didn't know it either. No shame in not knowing everything.

I learned something and I'm glad the poster brought it up.

[Beautiful Disaster]

7. Knew what?

I knew he wasn't related to the Kennedys. I didn't know Kennedy wasn't even his family name, having started with his father.

[Tanuki]

21. Same. I was well aware that he was no relation to the Massachusetts Kennedys,

but had never read that his people had only adopted that surname so recently.

[pnwmom]

6. Something to know about all our surnames . . .

My father ran into this when doing genealogy.

"In the era before dictionaries, there were no rules governing the spelling or translation of names or any other words. Consequently, there are an enormous number of spelling variations in Medieval Scottish names. Kannady has appeared as Kennedy, Kannady, Kenardy, Kennaday, Kenneday, Kenneyday, Kennediem, MacKennedy, MacUalraig (Gaelic) and many more.

SNIP

"Migration of the Kannady family
The freedom, opportunity, and land of the North American colonies beckoned. There, Scots found a place where they were generally free from persecution and where they could go on to become important players in the birth of new nations. Some fought in the American War of Independence, while others went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of all of these Scottish settlers have been able to recover their lost national heritage in the last century through highland games and Clan societies in North America. Among them: Alexander Kennedy settled in Charleston in 1763; Alexander Kennedy settled in Virginia in 1774; Angus Kennedy settled in New York in 1775; Hector Kennedy settled in Philadelphia in 1806."

https://www.houseofnames.com/kannady-family-crest

[nuxvomica]

8. Apparently the root name means something like "ugly head"

Irish and Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceannéidigh ‘descendant of Ceannéidigh’ (from ceann ‘head’ + éidigh ‘ugly’); or from the Scottish Gaelic Mac Cinnèidigh consisting of mac ‘son’ with an equivalent name. Compare Canaday Cannady Cannedy Kannady and Kenedy.

https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=kennedy

[TheBlackAdder]

10. Pres. JFK's family is Irish Catholic, unrelated to Scottish Kennedys.

.

While told not to cite Wiki in college...

There have been several different etymologies given for the surname. One explanation is that the name is an Anglicisation of Ó Cinnéide, which means "grandson of Cinnédidh" or "grandson of Cinnéidigh". Both of these personal names are derived from Gaelic words meaning "helmet-headed".[1] Ceanéidigh could be related to the old Gaelic name Cennétig, which is known from Cennétig mac Lorcáin, the father of the Irish high king Brian mac Cennétig, who was also known as Brian Bóruma or Brian Boru. It is worth noting that there is also an Irish Kennedy family and a Scottish Kennedy clan in Carrick, Ayrshire, which are unrelated to one another.

Another possibility is that Kennedy is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Ó Ceannéidigh, meaning "grandson of Ceannéidigh". Ceannéidigh is a given name derived from the Gaelic words ceann, meaning "head", and éidigh, meaning "ugly" or "fierce".[2] Some etymologies also suggest that the element ceann could mean "chief" or "leader".[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_(surname)

==========

According to genealogist Brian Kennedy in his work JFK's Irish O'Kennedy Ancestors, the Kennedys who would go on to play a significant role in the United States of America, originated from an Irish clan called Ó Cinnéide Fionn (one of the three Irish Gaelic Ó Cinnéide clans who ruled the kingdom of Ormond, along with the Ó Cinnéide Donn and Ó Cinnéide Ruadh). Their progenitor, Diarmaid Ó Cinnéide Fionn, held Knigh Castle close to what is today Puckane, County Tipperary in 1546. From there, having lost out to the New English order in the Kingdom of Ireland, they ended up in Dunganstown, New Ross, County Wexford by 1740. Patrick Kennedy was born there in 1823.

Patrick Kennedy (1823–1858) and Bridget Murphy (1824–1888) sailed from Ireland to East Boston in 1849. Patrick worked in East Boston as a barrel maker, or cooper,[3] and had five children with Bridget. Their youngest, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy, went into business and served in the Massachusetts state legislature from 1884 to 1895.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_family

.

[pnwmom]

13. If you read the whole article, some of the Kannady's from Scotland

eventually settled in Ireland.

Regardless, the complaint was made about the current Sen John Kennedy having changed his name. And his Kannady/Kennedy family could have either been from Scotland or Ireland or both.

[Beautiful Disaster]

25. Actually, if you trace Kennedy's family, it eventually leads back to Scotland.

Thomas Kennedy was born in 1618 in Dunure, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the son of Gilbert Kennedy and Isabel Campbell. Both were born in Dunure, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Thomas Kennedy Sr. was the father of Thomas Kennedy Jr., who was born about 1648 and may have been the first Kennedy born in Ireland (though, his location of birth is listed as unknown at a few places).

Thomas Kennedy Jr. was the father of Thomas Kennedy III, who was born in 1690 - possibly Ireland.

Thomas Kennedy III was the father of John Kennedy Sr., who was born 1715 in Ireland.

John Kennedy Sr. was the father of John Kennedy Jr., who was born in 1740 in Ireland.

John Kennedy Jr. was the father of Patrick Kennedy Sr., who was born in 1760 in Ireland.

Patrick Kennedy Sr. was the father of Patrick Kennedy Jr., who was born in County Wexford around 1785.

Patrick Kennedy Jr. was the father of Patrick Joseph Kennedy, who was born in Boston in 1858.

Patrick Joseph Kennedy was the father of Joseph Patrick Kennedy, who was born in 1888 in Boston.

Of course, Joseph Patrick Kennedy is the father of John Kennedy.

This is all assuming that the ancestry is accurate, of course lol

But it sounds pretty accurate as you can read the history here:

https://williamtennenthouse.org/catherine-tennents-famous-descendent/

[chowder66]

18. Also some families would intentionally change the spelling of their names to differentiate

between lines. I have a line that did that. Cassada, Casada, Cassaday, Casida, Cassidy, etc. There were also just plain old misspellings.

One son would spell his name Casida, the other Cassaday, etc.

[pnwmom]

19. Yes -- there's a great deal of variation, for a number of reasons. That does pose a challenge

to genealogists!

[chowder66]

20. Sure as heck does!

[Beautiful Disaster]

23. Hey. My grandmother was a Cassidy!

Her grandparents born in Ireland.

[chowder66]

24. I have no idea where my Casida(y)'s come from.

They most common spelling closest to Cassidy is Cassaday or Cassiday. Sometimes misspelled Cassidy.
The original spelling was Casada and they are found in NC, then TN then Wayne Co., KY. Eventually they made their way to MO.

There is one speculation that they were German but we suspect they may be from Ireland or Scotland. They are a brick wall. : (

[Beautiful Disaster]

27. I hit a wall the second they get back to Ireland.

So, I know how you feel. My grandma's grandparents have very limited ancestry.

[chowder66]

28. My goal is always to try to find out, at the least, what country they emigrated from.

But I'll tell you, once I trace many of my lines into KY I hit brick walls trying to trace them outside of there.

Sorry to hear about your brick wall. Do you know where they came from in Ireland or is that your brick wall (just knowing they came from there)?

[Beautiful Disaster]

29. That's funny because I too have some Cassadys where the line abruptly ends in Kentucky...

...that's on my dad's side. And even then, the last name switches up a couple times. Cassady to (Joel) Cassaday. The line goes to Barren, Kentucky and it says it goes back to Ireland but I don't have any proof of it.

On my mom's side, my grandma's grandfather was named John Cassidy and he was supposedly born in Dublin, Ireland in 1852. He immigrated over here and a bunch of the Cassidy line settled in Ohio but he moved out west and met my grandma's grandma, a Delia Sheridan (I assume that's her last name) who was born supposedly in County Sligo but I have no proof of that (beyond what I've been told).

Delia? I have no clue who her parents are. Again, I think her name was Sheridan before she married but I am not 100% sure.

John Cassidy I have a bit more but it dries up fast.

His father was Thomas Cassidy. I don't know where he was born, outside the fact he was born in Ireland. I had heard stories about him that he worked on an orange farm or something in Cambridge, where he died and his body was shipped back to Ireland (this has shown up in ancestry records).

His mother was supposedly Winifred McFadden or McPadden, and she was born in Roscommon apparently in 1825. She's buried in Ohio. But her husband is in Ireland. So, I assume he either stayed or died before she came over. I have a photo of her and the Cassidys minus what would be my grandma's grandfather as they were all settled in Toledo and he was out west where he started his family with Delia.

I do not have anything on Thomas Cassidy's parents.

But apparently Winifred's parents were Michael McPadden and Mary O'Brien.

They were from Roscomon too and are buried in Ireland I am assuming.

That's where the line ends. But I don't know how valid any of that is. All I know for certain is that my grandma's grandparents were born in Ireland and they met in Denver.

[chowder66]

31. It looks like you have made some good progress.

Hopefully more information will come online in the near future that helps you breakthrough.

[Beautiful Disaster]

32. I wish but I've been stuck at this dead end for a decade-plus.

So, I'm not optimistic, unfortunately.

[Mike Nelson]

12. I think...

...it's interesting how the Far Right seems to have a thing for the MA Kennedy family. They had that rally for JFK and his son - thinking their deaths were fake news. Of course they adore RFK Jr now... and the Fake John Kennedy.. his accent is so fake. LBJ had a real accent. Good thing JFK and LBJ showed Fake John Kennedy and his ilk the EXIT.

[doc03]

14. Every time I hear John Kennedy speak, I think of this guy

[UTUSN]

15. Irksome about the JFK thing, Also, he's personally a fraud, poses as a "country lawyer"

[Vinca]

17. It annoys me, too. He's got to be one of the most irritating Republicans.

He's got that good ole boy schtick going - "Ahmmmm jus' lak y'all" - when, in fact, he's been educated at universities like Oxford.

[spanone]

22. highly educated but loves to play the oountry bumpkin

a phony through and through

[a kennedy]

30. Yah, the country bumpkin......just hate that about him. Ugh.....

[NowISeetheLight]

26. Names

I remember a few years back there was some candidate out east with the last name Kraft. He’d hand out boxes of Mac and cheese at campaign events and talked about watching Super Bowls with his family (The Kraft family owns the New England Patriots). It came out later he wasn’t related to them.