Conway is a Welsh, Irish & Scottish surname. It can be an anglicised spelling of the Welsh Conwy, Irish Mac Connmhaigh, Ó Connmhacháin, McCeannbhuί, Mac Conbhuí, Ó Conbhuidhe or the Scottish Coneway.
In Ireland, derivations of Conway such as McConway as sometimes observed. It translates as follows: McCeannbhuί/McConbhuí - Translates as "Son of yellow head/hound", relating to the fact that the Conways were historically footsoldiers that wore a yellow head sash into battle accompanied by war dogs. McCeannbhrise - Translates as "Head-smasher/head-breaker", relating to the fact that as footsoldiers of Queen Maeve of Connaught, the Conways carried warhammers into battle as weapon of choice.
Notable people with the surname include:
Alan Conway, impersonator of Stanley Kubrick Albert Conway (1889–1969), Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1955–1959) Andrew Conway (born 1991), Irish rugby union player Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway (1631–1679), English philosopher Anne C. Conway (born 1950), American lawyer and Senior United States District Judge Arthur Conway (disambiguation) Connie Conway (born 1950), American politician Cornelius Conway Felton (1807–1862), American educator and regent of the Smithsonian Institution Curtis Conway, former NFL wide receiver Damian Conway, Perl guru Dan Conway (born 1985), English cricketer David Conway (disambiguation) Deborah Conway, Australian singer and songwriter Delores Conway, American statistician and economist Derek Conway, British politician Devon Conway (born 1991), New Zealand cricketer Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway, PC (1594–1655), English politician, military commander, bibliophile and peer Edward Joseph Conway, Irish biochemist Elias Nelson Conway (1812–1892), American politician and 5th Governor of Arkansas from 1852 to 1860 Marshall "Eddie" Conway (1946–2023), Black Panther Party member from Baltimore Edwin Michael Conway (1934–2004), American Catholic bishop Elias Nelson Conway, American politician Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford (1718–1794), British courtier and politician Gary Conway (born 1936), American actor George Conway (disambiguation) George T. Conway III, American attorney Gerry Conway (1952–2026), American comic book writer Gerry Conway (musician) (1947–2024), English drummer Gordon Conway, English ecologist Harry Conway (born 1992), Australian cricketer Hélène Conway-Mouret (born 1960), French politician Helen Conway-Ottenheimer, Canadian politician Henry Seymour Conway, British general and statesman Henry Wharton Conway, American politician Hugh Conway (novelist) (1847–1885), English novelist Hugh Conway (Lord Treasurer) (1440–1518), Irish politician Hugh E. Conway (born 1942), American labor economics academic Jack Conway (disambiguation) James Conway (disambiguation) Jerry Conway (1901–1980), American baseball player Jill Ker Conway, Australian-American author Jim Conway (baseball) (1858–1912), American baseball player Jimmy Conway, Irish-American gangster John Conway (disambiguation) John Horton Conway (1937–2020), English mathematician Jon Conway, American soccer player Josephina Conway (born 2004), American fencer Kate Conway, Canadian actress Katherine Eleanor Conway (1853–1927; pen name, "Mercedes"), American journalist, editor, poet Kathie Conway, member of the Missouri House of Representatives Kellyanne Conway (born 1967), American Republican campaign manager, strategist, and pollster Kevin Conway (disambiguation) Kieron Conway (born 1996), English boxer Lisa Conway, Canadian musician and producer Lyle Conway (died 2026), American actor, puppeteer and designer Lynn Conway (1938–2024), American computer scientist and inventor Markies Conway, American rapper known professionally as Yella Beezy Martin Conway (disambiguation) Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington (1856–1937), English nobleman Melvin Conway, inventor of coroutines Mic Conway (born 1951), Australian vocalist Michael Conway (senator), Irish politician Mike Conway, British racing driver Moncure Daniel Conway, American clergyman and author Pete Conway (1866–1903), American baseball player Robert Conway (admiral), officer in the United States Navy Rob Conway, American professional wrestler Robert Seymour Conway, British classical scholar and philologist Russ Conway (1925–2000), stage name of Trevor Stanford, English popular music pianist Russ Conway (journalist), American investigative journalist Sally Conway (born 1987), Scottish judoka Samuel Conway American researcher and owner of Anthrocon Sean Conway, Canadian professor Shirl Conway, stage and television actress Simon Conway Morris FRS (born 1951), English palaeontologist, evolutionary biologist, and astrobiologist Sophie Conway (born 1999), Australian rules footballer Steve Conway (politician) (born 1944), American politician Steve Conway (singer) (1920–1952), British singer Thomas Conway, soldier in America's Revolutionary War Thomas F. Conway (1862–1945), American lawyer and politician Tiger Conway Sr. (1932–2006), American professional wrestler Tim Conway (1933–2019), American comedic actor Tim Conway Jr., American radio talk show host Timothy Conway (born 1942), Irish politician Tom Conway, British actor William Conway (disambiguation) Zoë Conway, Irish violinist Fictional characters: Hugh Conway, protagonist of James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon Conway family, characters in Accidents Happen Jimmy Conway, gangster associate in crime film Goodfellas, based on Jimmy Burke Will Conway, Republican nominee for U.S. president on season 4 of House of Cards, played by Joel Kinnaman
Conway is a component of the compound surname Conway Morris: Simon Conway Morris, British palaeontologist