Keegan — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Aodhagáin
Meaning: 'son of little Aodh (fire)'
Traditional stronghold: Dublin, Wicklow
Pronunciation: KEE-gun; Irish Mac Aodhagáin: mock AY-gawn
History of the Keegan name
Keegan is a Leinster form of Mac Aodhagáin, from a double diminutive of the ancient personal name Aodh, meaning fire; the same Irish surname produced Egan elsewhere. While the famous Mac Aodhagáin brehon family served as hereditary lawyers to the great houses of Connacht and Ormond, the Keegan spelling took root along the Dublin and Wicklow borders and in the north midlands of Roscommon and Leitrim, where the name is still well represented. It travelled heavily with emigration, and Keegans of Irish descent are numerous in Britain in particular, among them families who produced notable footballers and writers.
Variants: Kegan · MacKeegan · Egan
Famous bearers of the name
- Claire Keegan — Wicklow author of Small Things Like These and Foster, among the most acclaimed Irish writers of her generation.
- John Keegan — Laois poet of the pre-Famine peasantry, remembered for Caoch the Piper.
- Kevin Keegan — England footballer and manager of Irish descent, twice European Footballer of the Year.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Byrne · Doyle · Casey · Cullen · O'Toole · Behan · Cosgrave · Ennis