ONAN or O'NAN
In TREASURE UP THE MEMORY by James Frederick O'Nan in 1969, he says that O'Nan is an
affectation of Onan. He says, "The writer's father, grandfather and great-grandfather
all spelled the name, without variation, Onan. In a recent letter from Mr. Cary W. O'Nan
he notes; 'In most of the records I have search, including Court Hours Records, and in my
memory the name was always spelled Onan, until about the end of World War I, when the
change in spelling to O'Nan began to take place. I always spelled my name Onan until about
1922, before I started spelling it O'Nan.'"
NOTE: The genealogy you are in has always, and still does, use the spelling Onan for the family name.
BIOG0007
ONAN
A one page summary
Onan from Aunan(t)
Huguenots
Two immigrations
April 1989
Revised: 6 May 1998
The surname ONAN derives from the French name AUNAN or AUNANT. The change of spelling the French AUNAN(T) to ONAN is the simple English phonetic spelling of the French pronunciation of AUNAN(T). Actual evidence of the occurs in the Registers of the French Church, Threadneedle Street, London. On the same line is the child Marie Onan, baptized daughter of Pierre Aunant and Elizabeth Soyer.
The Protestant church had been legally tolerated in France under the Edict of Nantes authorized by king Henry IV in 1598. The Edict was withdrawn by king Louis XIV in 1685 declaring France entirely Roman Catholic. The Protestant (Calvinist) French, known as Huguenots, were no longer religiously protected and many fled for their lives to other countries.
There seems to be two groups of Onans. One is the result of coming from France through England in the late 1600’s. The first Aunant I have on record is Jean Aunan(t) who married Cibille Dumas in Nimes, France on November 2, 1631. They had 8 children. Next I have Jean Aunant of Nimes, son of Jean Aunant and Sibelle Dumas, and wife Marie Soyer; listed as seeking naturalization in Carolina in 1695,96. The path of this family of French refugees in the colonies and later is told by James Frederick O’Nan in his book "Treasure Up The Memories", Cincinnati OH, 1970.
The second group, of which I am a member and this genealogy is all about, seems to have come from the British Isles about 1807. James and Mary (Collins) Onan raised a family of 8 children. They lived in the area of Ithaca, NY and also Cattaraugus County, NY from about 1825 to 1870. They were farmers and lumbermen. James father was Alexander. James, Mary and two children are buried in a cemetery near Fitch, Cattaraugus County, NY. Other children started the move west to Illinois and Wisconsin as early as 1850. Those to Minnesota and Iowa, later. James’s oldest son, Warren, my great-great grandfather, moved to Moorhead MN in 1875.
At this time in the research I can make no connection with the early southern group or any family found in the British Isles around 1800. Because of the distinctness of the northern and southern families in the USA, and a bit of written history, I am inclined to believe that James and his father Alexander came directly from the British Isles. That does not explain other Onan families who were in central New York state in the early 1800’s and are probably related.
It is my great hope that others will find the answers.
David Warren Onan II