Opinions, as ever, vary on this one. The most likely derivation is from the Welsh word 'enion' or 'enniaun' meaning 'anvil', in other words someone who is strong and stable. The Irishifying with the apostrophe seems to be random as it's not used in Ireland with this name. Alternatively it could mean a seller of onions!
The stress is on the "Nions" - and as you will know, "O'" means "son of", so the vegetabe reference is probably just a kind of folk etymology he'll be all too familiar with
Onions is also used in England, probably most famously recently being the cricketer Graham Onions who played for the England team a few times.The stress is on the "Nions" - and as you will know, "O'" means "son of", so the vegetabe reference is probably just a kind of folk etymology he'll be all too familiar with
EDIT: Following Martin's insights that I somehow only saw *after* posting, I think it's very well possible that his ancestors used the apostrophe to indicate stress in order to *prevent* their name being pronounced as "onion". Which doesn't exclude the possibility that it actually *was* pronounced that way initially ... That's something you see quite a lot around here, people adapting (mostly having adapted) surnames by spelling them in a fancy way ...
He's British, living near the Lake District (he's secretive about it, as I would be, but he also makes images in his "local forest", and what you see on the horizon is telling ...).
I really like his style, and you can learn a lot (about film photography, and he also has an amazing eye).
M.
Steve is from Liverpool, so there could be an Irish connection. His YT videos are the only ones I watch regularly; incidentally I have some prints of his which he sells privately on Etsy. His back catalogue of videos are worth watching, even if you don't shoot film.
