MacGahan and McGahan are
Northern Irish 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 ...
s. They are
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 ...
forms 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''". 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 ...
''Eachán'' 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 the personal name ''Eachaidh'', which is based upon the
Gaelic ''each'', meaning "
horse".
[ which cited for the surname "McGahan".]
People surnamed McGahan or MacGahan
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Andrew McGahan
Andrew McGahan (10 October 1966 – 1 February 2019) was an Australian novelist, best known for his first novel ''Praise'', and for his Miles Franklin Award-winning novel ''The White Earth''. His novel ''Praise'' is considered to be part of th ...
(1966–2019), Australian novelist
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Anna McGahan (born 1988), Australian actress and playwright
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Bronwyn McGahan
Bronwyn McGahan is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who was selected by her party as a member (MLA) of the Northern Ireland Assembly to represent the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in June 2012. (born 1972), Irish Sinn Féin politician
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(born 1961), New Zealand rugby league footballer
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Jamie McGahan
James "Jamie" McGahan (born 1959) is a Scottish cyclist.
Early life
Jamie McGahan is a native of Glasgow. Career
McGahan won the Rás Tailteann in 1981, finished second in 1982 and third in 1983. Other wins include the Scottish Road Race Champi ...
(born 1959), Scottish cyclist
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Matt McGahan (born 1993), New Zealand rugby union footballer
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Januarius MacGahan
Januarius Aloysius MacGahan əˈɡæn(June 12, 1844 – June 9, 1878) was an American journalist and war correspondent working for the ''New York Herald'' and the London '' Daily News''. His articles describing the massacre of Bulgarian civilia ...
(1844–1878), American journalist and war correspondent
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Paul McGahan
Paul William McGahan (born 12 October 1964) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A halfback, McGahan represented Counties and North Harbour at a provincial level and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks
T ...
(born 1964), New Zealand rugby union footballer
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Thomas McGahan
Thomas McGahan (1845 – 11 December 1932) was a Chairman, company chairman and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
Biography
McGahan was born in Ballynakelly, Tyrone County, to parents James McGahan and his wife Mary (née Tally) a ...
(1845–1932), Australian politician
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Tony McGahan
Tony McGahan is an Australian rugby union coach who is currently an assistant coach at the Queensland Reds.
Early career
Born in Queensland, Australia, a teacher by profession, a BE in Physical Education from Queensland University of Technology ...
, (born 1972), Australian rugby union coach
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Walter G. McGahan
Walter G. McGahan (August 21, 1902 – January 17, 1981) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Life
He was born on August 21, 1902, in Greenwich Village, New York City. He attended St. James Academy and Brooklyn Preparatory School. ...
(1902–1981), New York politician
References
{{surname, McGahan
Anglicised Irish-language surnames
Patronymic surnames