Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

heffernan

/hˈɛfɚnən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.53 in modern English

Syllables
hef-fer-nan
IPA
/hˈɛfɚnən/
18
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A surname from Irish.

Etymology

Anglicized form of Irish Ó hIfearnáin (“descendant of Ifearnán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of ifreannach (“demon”), from ifreann (“hell”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: Ó hIfearnáin

Inflected Forms

Heffernans (plural)

Questions

How do you pronounce heffernan?
The recorded pronunciation is /hˈɛfɚnən/.
What does heffernan mean?
A surname from Irish.
Where does heffernan come from?
It is traced to Irish.

How to pronounce heffernan

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “heffernan”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/hˈɛfɚnən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “heffernan”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “heffernan” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.