or is an
early Irish male name, which also has the
hypocoristic
A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as '' Izzy'' for ...
and
diminutive forms , , and . In more modern forms of Irish it is written as or (/'oːəun/).
In
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 ...
the name is Eòghann or Eòghan. All of the above are often
anglicised as
Ewen or, less often,
Owen. The name in both Goidelic languages is generally considered a derivative of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
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 ...
name , meaning "noble born".
[''Surnames of the United Kingdom'' (1912), reprinted for Clearfield Company, INC by Genealogical Publishing Co. INC, Baltimore 1995, 1996. Cormic gives this origin for Eogan (one MS, Eogen); and Zimmer considers Owen to be borrowed from Latin , as noted by MacBain, p. 400. The mediaeval Latinization of Owen as led to a belief that the etymology was the Welsh and Breton , "lamb". With much stronger reason it was at one time considered that the name represented Irish = Gael. . Old Irish Welsh , young ‘youth’. ''Surnames of the United Kingdom'' cites Tomás Ua Concheanainn, (p. 126), that " is a diminutive of , = Owain, Eugene"][
]
Etymology
The derives ''Eógan'' from the Primitive Irish
Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish ( ga, Gaeilge Ársa), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages. It is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the ogham alphabet in Ireland ...
''*'', while others such as (, in 1903) have stated that equates to and Eugene; Dr Rachel Bromwich
Rachel Bromwich (30 July 1915 – 15 December 2010) born Rachel Sheldon Amos, was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and she taught Celtic Languages and Literature in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic a ...
has commented that is a derivation of the Latin ,[As cited by T.J. Morgan in ''Welsh Surnames'', page 172] making these names long-attested in Gaelic areas, yet still based on loan-words.[Morgan, T.J. and Morgan, Prys, ''Welsh Surnames'', University of Wales, 1985, ''Owain (Owen, Bowen, Ednowain)''. According to T.J. Morgan in ''Welsh Surnames'' (page 172/173) Owen is a derivation of the Latin > Old Welsh , ... 'variously written in ]Middle Welsh
Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...
as . LL gives the names . The corresponding form in Irish is . Additionally, another Latinized variation of the name Owen is in certain parish registers.” Morgan notes that there are less likely alternative explanations and agrees with Dr Rachel Bromwich that Welsh “is normally latinized as Eugenius," and "both the Welsh and Irish forms are Latin derivatives".
Eoghan has also been translated into English as "well born", in an example c. 1923, due to this Latin derivation; but with the note that in common usage it is usually anglicised to " Eugene". The name corresponds to the Welsh , often spelt in English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
; as well to Ewen, Ewan and Euan. The most likely and widely accepted origin of the Old Welsh is, like the Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
also from Latin .
List of people
Celtic nobility
* , king of Fernmag in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology
* , king of
* , son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, eponymous founder of the and
* , eponymous ancestor of the
* of Ardstraw (6th century), Irish saint
* (died 839), king of Fortriu
* of Argyll () (died in or after 1268)
* , harper and a servant of the 9th Earl of Kildare
* , sometimes known as
* (fl. 934), King of the Cumbrians
* (died 1015), King of the Cumbrians
* (), King of the Cumbrians
Recent times
* Eoghan Corry
Eoghan Corry ( ga, Eoghan Ó Cómhraí; born 19 January 1961) is an Irish journalist and author. He is the lead commentator on travel for media in Ireland, having edited travel sections in national newspapers and travel publications since the 1 ...
, Irish journalist and historian
* Eoghan Fitzsimons, former Attorney General of Ireland
The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does pa ...
* Eoghan Harris
Eoghan Harris (born 13 March 1943) is an Irish journalist, columnist, director, and former politician. He has held posts in various and diverse political parties. He was a leading theoretician in the Marxist-Leninist Workers' Party of Ireland, p ...
, Irish politician
* Eoghan Hickey, rugby player
* Eoghan McDermott (MacDiarmada), tv broadcaster
* Eoghan Quigg
Eoghan Karl Christopher Quigg (; born 12 July 1992) is a footballer and pop singer from Dungiven, Northern Ireland, who finished third in the fifth series of the British television music talent contest ''The X Factor'' in 2008.
As a result o ...
, Singer
Eoghan Toner, On the wall in STATS
See also
* Eòghann and Eòghan at List of Scottish Gaelic given names
* Egan, Eoin, Euan, Evan
Evan is both an English and Welsh male given name derived from "Iefan", a Welsh form for the name John. In other languages it could be compared to " Ivan", " Ian", and " Juan"; the name John itself is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Yəhô ...
, Ewan
Ewan is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the Pictish name, ''Vuen'' (or 'Wen'), "The Warrior" or "born of the mountain". It is most common as a male given name in Scotland and Canada. I ...
, Ewen, Ewin
Ewin is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
*David Floyd Ewin (1911–2003), English administrator of St Paul’s Cathedral
*Donna Ewin (born 1970), English former glamour model and actress
*Paula Ewin (b ...
, Ewing
*
** List of rulers of
*
* McEwan ()
* MacEwen, 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 ...
* McCown ()
* Clan MacCowan
* Clan Ewing
* Clan Ewen of Otter
* Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta () were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, an ...
* Irish name
A formal Irish name consists of a given name and a surname. In the Irish language, surnames are generally patronymic in etymology but are no longer literal patronyms as, for example, most Icelandic names still are. The form of a surname varies ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eogan
Irish-language masculine given names