Gagnon
A French surname probably tied to gain or earning, often explained as a nickname or byname built on words for “to win” or “to earn.”
The #1,697 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,558 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is usually connected with French gagner, “to gain, earn, win,” and with related words such as gagnage and gagneur. In older surname explanations, it is often treated as a nickname or byname for someone associated with earning, profit, or a successful worker. The excerpt also suggests a secondary line of explanation in which the form was applied to a dog, but that is not enough on its own to settle the derivation with certainty.
History
Gagnon is a long-established French surname and is especially familiar in French-speaking North America, where it was carried by settlers and later spread widely through Québec and neighboring regions. It remains a common Canadian surname today and is also found in the United States, often among families of French-Canadian descent.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
It is one of the better-known French-Canadian surnames in North America, ranking much higher in Canada than in the United States.
From the historical record
“« Hardi gaigneur, hardi mangeur, » pour dire que celui qui travaille bien mange bien aussi. Gagnon s'est dit pour chien (oU\ Gagnière, Gagnieux. F. de Ga- gnage et Gagneux.”
— Dictionnaire des noms (French surnames)