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Origins Available: |
| Ireland |
The Guggen surname appeared in Gaelic as Mag Uiginn, which is probably derived from a Norse forename. The name is usually pronounced as "McGwiggen" in it's homeland County Tyrone (especially around Omagh).
The surname Guggen was first found in County Tyrone (Irish:Tír Eoghain), the ancient territory of the O'Neills, now in the Province of Ulster, central Northern Ireland, where they held a family seat from ancient times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Guggen research. Another 71 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1616, 1659 and 1800 are included under the topic Early Guggen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Pronunciation, rather than spelling, guided scribes and church officials when recording names during the Middle Ages. This practice often resulted in one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Guggen are preserved in these old documents. The various spellings of the name that were found include MacGuigan, MacGoogan, MacGougan,MacGookin, MacGuckin, MacGugan, MacQuiggan, MacWiggin, MacGucken, MacGuckian, MacGuiggan, MacGuighan and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Guggen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due to the policies of England. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the Guggen family relocated to North American shores quite early: Andrew, Charles, Francis, Patrick, MacGucken, who all settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1840 and 1870; Henry MacGuckian settled in Philadelphia in 1843.