Gaughan
An Irish surname, often linked to a Gaelic family name beginning with Mag- or O'-, with the exact original form not always certain.
The #9,496 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,197 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally treated as an Irish surname from a Gaelic original, but the older spelling history is messy and not fully settled. The Woulfe material groups Gaughan with several forms that appear to reflect Gaelic names beginning with Mac-/Mag- or O'-, suggesting an anglicized Irish family name rather than an English occupational or locational surname. Because the OCR excerpts are fragmentary, the precise source form behind Gaughan cannot be stated with confidence from these citations alone.
History
Matheson’s surname distributions place Gaughan mainly in western and northwestern Ireland in the late 19th century, especially Mayo, with smaller numbers elsewhere. The name has remained associated with Irish diaspora communities, including in the United States. Spelling variation is common in Irish surnames of this type, which can obscure whether different modern forms descend from the same Gaelic original.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In the 1894 Matheson material, Gaughan is noted as being concentrated mostly in Mayo, showing a classic west-of-Ireland distribution pattern.
From the historical record
“niA5 eACAin, MacGahan, Maga- han, Megahan ; Magan, Ma- gann ; Geghan, Gaughan, Gahan, etc. ITlAg GACitAin, MacGaughran, Magaheran, Magahern, Mac Gahran, (?) MacGawran, (?)”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames