Egan
Mac Aodhagáin · son of Aodhagán
Egan is Mac Aodhagáin in Irish, said mak AY-gawn, and means son of Aodhagán.
A little Aodh, from the word for fire. The MacEgans were a brehon family, hereditary judges in the old Irish law, and ran law schools until the seventeenth century.
How it changes
- A man: Mac Aodhagáin
- His daughter: Nic Aodhagáin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Mhic Aodhagáin
- The family together: Mhic Aodhagáin
Where it comes from
Tipperary, Galway and Offaly
Also spelt
Egan, Eagan, Keegan, MacEgan
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.