Cheney Family History
Cheney Name Meaning
English: variant of Chaney with the same etymology as in 2 below. French: topographic name for someone who lived by or in an oak wood from Old French chesnai ‘oak grove’ (from chesne ‘oak’) or a habitational name from any of several places called (Le) Cheney e.g. in Haute-Savoie named with this word. Compare Chesney . French Canadian: altered form of French Chesnay or Chenay topographic names with the same meaning and etymology as in 2 above or habitational names from (Le) Chesnay or (Le) Chenay names of several places in the northwestern part of France based on Old French chesnai ‘oak grove’. Compare Chenette and Chenier French: habitational name from Cheney in Yonne which takes its name from a Gallo-Roman estate Caniacum from the Roman personal name Canius + the locative suffix -acum.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022