Ewan is an anglicisation of the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

name Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...

name, ''Vuen'' (or 'Wen'), "The Warrior" or "born of the mountain". It is most common as a

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is also, less commonly, a surname, especially among the

Scottish Clans A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recogni ...

, examples of variation in spelling include

McEwan’s McEwan's is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was originally brewed by William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The McEwan's brand passed to Heineken in 2008 after their purchase of Scottish & New ...

beer and

MacEwan University , mottoeng = , type = Public university, Public University , established = , closed = , founder = , parent = , academic_affiliations = A ...

. Owain is the predominant

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

spelling of the name (or Owen when Anglicized), but Iwan and Iuan are also found, as they are in Cornish.

Ouen Audoin (AD 609 – on 24 August 684; also spelled ''Audoen'', ''Ouen'', ''Owen''; la, Audoenus; known as Dado to contemporaries) was a Frankish bishop, courtier, hagiographer and saint. Life Audoin came from a wealthy aristocratic Frankish fam ...

can be considered the French or

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

spelling of the name. Another meaning of these could mean

Yew Tree Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus b ...

or ‘well born’ in

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edwar ...

. Ewan is also a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

. Ewan is sometimes incorrectly seen as a cognate to

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and its variations. Ewen or Ewan is also a Scottish surname, as in

Clan MacEwen Clan MacEwen or Clan MacEwan is a Scottish clan recorded in the fifteenth century as Clan Ewen of Otter. Historically, there have been several different MacEwen clans and septs, with some distinct, and some interrelated, origins for the modern ...

People with the given name

In the arts and media

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commiss ...

(1814–1895), British architect * Ewan MacColl (1915–1989), British folk singer-songwriter *

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

(born 1971), Scottish actor *

Ewan Mitchell Ewan Robert Mitchell is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the ITV period drama ''The Halcyon'' (2017), the medieval series ''The Last Kingdom'' (2017–2022), the BBC war drama '' World on Fire'' (2019–), and the HBO fantasy se ...

(born 1997), English actor *

Ewan Stewart Andrew Ewan Stewart (born 26 August 1957) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor. Early life Stewart was born in Glasgow, and is the son of the late Scottish entertainer Andy Stewart. His mother Sheila lives in Arbroath, Scotland. St ...

(born 1957), Scottish actor

In sports

Ewan MacDonald Ewan MacDonald (born 17 November 1975 in Inverness, Scotland) is a Scottish curler. Representing Scotland, he is a three-time World Champion, playing second for Hammy McMillan in 1999 and playing third for David Murdoch in 2006 and 2009. He ...

(born 1975), Scottish curler *

Ewan McGrady Ewan McGrady (born 6 July 1964) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and the Western Suburbs Magpies. Background Ewan McGrady was born in Moree, ...

, Australian rugby league footballer *

Ewan Thompson Ewan Thompson (born 29 March 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1997. He was recruited from the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also refer ...

(born 1977), Australian (Australian rules) footballer

In other fields

Ewan Birney John Frederick William Birney (known as Ewan Birney) (born 6 December 1972) is joint director of EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), in Hinxton, Cambridgeshire and deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Labor ...

(born 1972), British bioinformatician *

Ewan Anderson Ewan William Anderson (born 28 March 1938) is an English academic expert on geopolitics, economic and social geography. He is also a former English first-class cricketer who played all his games for Oxford University Cricket Club; and has exhi ...

(born 1938), expert on geopolitics, economic and social geography

Characters

*Ewan, a character from the TV series '' Merlin'' Season 1 Episode 2 *Ewan O'Hara, Juliet O'Hara's brother on the TV series '' Psych'' *Ewan, a guard in the book ''The Wizard's Child'' *Ewan Doherty, Head of English in

Teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

, a UK Channel 4 show *Ewan the Dream Sheep, a popular baby sleeping toy *Ewan Cameron, a minor character in Dragonfly in Amber, second book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon *Ewan Zschoch

References