Gahan (and its variant Gahame) is a

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

with several different origins. One origin of the surname is from a reduced form of '' McGahan'', which is in turn an

Anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

form of the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

Mac Eacháin Mac Eacháin is an Irish language surname. It is the patronymic form of the personal name ''Eachán''. The personal name ''Eachán'' is diminutive of the personal name ''Eachaidh'', which is derived from ''each'', meaning ''horse''. Anglicised fo ...

'', meaning "son of ''Eachán''". Another origin of the name, in Leinster, is from a reduced form of the Irish language ''Ó Gaoithin'', meaning "descendant of ''Gaoithín''". The

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

''Gaoithín'' is a

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

of ''gaoth'', meaning "wise", or "wind". In Connacht, ''Ó Gaoithin'' is sometimes Anglicised as '' Wynne'' or '' Wyndham''. Occasionally, the surname ''Gahan'' may be an Anglicised form of the Irish language ''Mac Gaoithín'', meaning "son of ''Gaoithín''", although the more common Anglicised form of this Gaelic name is '' McGeehan'' in Ulster. which cited for the surname "Gahan". People with this surname include: *

Arthur Burton Gahan Arthur Burton Gahan (9 December 1880 — 23 May 1960) was an American entomologist who was a specialist on parasitic Hymenoptera particularly the Chalcidoidea Chalcid wasps (, , for their metallic colour) are insects within the superfamily Ch ...

(1880–1960), American entomologist *

Charles Joseph Gahan Charles Joseph Gahan (20 January 1862 – 21 January 1939) was an Irish entomologist who specialized in beetles, particularly the Cerambycidae. He served as keeper at the department of entomology in the British Museum (Natural History) for thirt ...

(1862–1939), Irish entomologist * Dave Gahan (born 1962) (not his birth name), British singer * George Thomas Gahan (1912–1980), Australian politician and boxer *

Gordon Gahan Gordon Ward Gahan (November 5, 1945 – October 19, 1984) was an American photographer. Biography Gahan was born at Sloane Hospital for Women in Manhattan, to Alice M. Ward (housewife, age 37), and Edmund Gahan (owner of an oil well supply b ...

(1945–1984), American photographer *

Graeme Gahan Graeme Arthur Gahan (10 January 1942 – 23 February 2018) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Used mostly as a half back, Gahan spent eight seasons at Richmond. He moved to Tasma ...

(1942–2018), Australian rules footballer *

John Harvey Gahan John Harvey "Oscar" Gahan (born John Harvey Gerald Gahan; August 20, 1888 – March 24, 1958) was a Canadian child prodigy violinist and actor. Gahan played a performance for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) at age 5. As a virtuoso vio ...

(1888–1958), Canadian violinist * Matthew Gahan (born 1975), Australian baseball player * Thomas Gahan (1847–1905), American politician *

Tracy Gahan Tracy Gahan (born July 18, 1980) is an American retired professional basketball player. Career College In college, Gahan attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State statistics Source WNBA After her college career, Gahan was pi ...

(born 1980), Australian basketball player *

William Gahan William Gahan (5 June 1732 in the parish of St. Nicholas, Dublin – 6 December 1804 in the parish of St. Nicolas, Dublin) was an Irish priest and author. Life He entered on his novitiate in the Augustinian Order, on 12 September 1748 and ...

(1732–1804), Irish priest and at least one having it as a given name: * Gahan Wilson (1930–2019), American horror–fantasy cartoonist and illustrator

References

{{given name, type=both Anglicised Irish-language surnames