Flanagan
An Irish surname, usually from Gaelic O Flannagáin, meaning a descendant of a man called Flannagán.
The #1,134 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,996 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Flanagan is generally understood as an anglicized form of Irish O Flannagáin, 'descendant of Flannagán.' The base personal name Flann means 'red' or 'ruddy,' and the diminutive ending suggests 'little red one' or 'ruddy-haired one.' In older scholarship the exact formation is sometimes treated cautiously, but the surname is firmly Irish in origin.
History
The name is strongly associated with Ireland and appears in records both with and without the prefix O'. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, sources note the common anglicized forms Flanagan, Flannagan, and Flannigan. It is a relatively widespread Irish surname and remains common in Ireland and in the Irish diaspora.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century Irish surname lists show that some families later restored the prefix O', making O'Flanagan a familiar revival form as well as a historical one.
From the historical record
“In the case of a double surname in English, as Patrick Sarsfield O'Donnell, Hugh O'Neill Flanagan, the first surname assumes the -ac termination, thus : p^-o^Aig SAipf6AlA(i 0 "Oomn^itl, Act) 11iAltAC O piAtinA^Ain. When a personal cognomen of the ancestor appears in the surname, it agrees in case with the name of the”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames