Irish American Ryan McKenna: Did the luck of the Irish bring him to the Superbowl audience?
Ryan McKenna becomes the new left shark as the internet goes wild for Superbowl Selfie kid
One lucky 13-year-old became a viral sensation on Superbowl Sunday, essentially becoming more popular than Justin Timberlake's halftime show itself.
Ryan McKenna from Hingham, Massachusetts - now and forever more dubbed "Selfie Kid" - found himself in an enviable position as Timberlake finished off his Superbowl set among the crowd.
Not only is the selfie itself wonderous but with a name like McKenna, it's clear that the luck of the Irish found the youngster in front of a Superbowl audience of 100 million people.
AND HERE IT IS.#SelfieKid with @jtimberlake!#HalftimeSelfie #SuperBowlSelfie#SuperBowl #PepsiHalftime pic.twitter.com/Edww4CSSm7
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 5, 2018
While McKenna has become increasingly popular in the US as a first name, it is originally the anglicized form of the Gaelic Irish surname "Mac Cionaoith", also spelled Mac Cionaodha or Mac Cionnaith, meaning "son of Cionnaith" or of the Scottish surname, from Galloway, "MacCionaodha."
You can find out more about Irish Gaelic surnames here in IrishCentral's explainer of the top Irish family names.
As for the luck of the Irish, it may now be regarded as something you always want to have but that wasn't always the case. Find out more about the history of the phrase here.
What did you make of last night's halftime show and McKenna's selfie? Let us know in the comments section, below.