O’Regan
Ó Riagáin · descendant of Riagán
O’Regan is Ó Riagáin in Irish, said oh REE-gawn, and means descendant of Riagán.
Riagán is read as little king, from rí. Ronald Reagan’s people came from Ballyporeen in Tipperary, and he visited it as president in 1984.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Riagáin
- His daughter: Ní Riagáin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Riagáin
- The family together: Uí Riagáin
Where it comes from
Laois, Meath and Cork
Also spelt
O’Regan, Regan, Reagan, Ragan
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.