Kyne or kine is held by some to be a pre-modern English word which formed the plural of cow. Only in the 19th century (and in some parts later) did the vernacular contemporary plural cows replace Kyne/Kine.
As with many Irish and British surnames which were based on the career of the holder, some cowherds (the bovine equivalent of shepherds) came to have the surname Kyne.
However, the gaelic root of the name is O Cadhain, from the word cadhain, meaning wild goose. The "Wild Geese" were members of the Irish army led by Patrick Sarsfield, who, by the terms of the treaty of Limerick in 1691, were given the choice of death or exile with the Stuart King James II in France.
Bishop John Anthony Christopher Kyne (known as Jack) served as Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath in Ireland, from 1947 to 1966.