Brogan
An Irish surname most likely tied to the Gaelic name Ó Brógáin, meaning a descendant of Brogán.
The #4,577 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,818 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Brogan is usually explained as an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic surname Ó Brógáin. The personal name Brogán is commonly taken as a diminutive of brog, though older writers sometimes gave speculative folk explanations. In modern onomastic reference works, the surname is generally treated as Irish in origin and linked to an old Gaelic personal name rather than to the English word "brogan" meaning a heavy shoe.
History
The name is found in Ireland, especially in Ulster and parts of the northwest, and it spread more widely through Irish migration. Nineteenth-century surname writers occasionally proposed fanciful meanings for it, but later scholarship treats it as a standard Irish family name. It is relatively well established in English-speaking countries with Irish diaspora communities, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older books tried to connect Brogan with everyday English words, but that is usually rejected today in favor of the Irish Gaelic derivation.
From the historical record
“lin, Breslin, etc. (3 buogAix), Broggy. C t)]i65Ain, Brogan. 6 'buoiloACAin, Bradley. V. 6 t)]tOlACAin. (3 t)pom, O'Byrne, Byrne,”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames