Contents [hide]

Eagan History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Eagan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Hundreds of years ago, the Gaelic name used by the Eagan family in Ireland was Mac Aodhagain, which means "son of Aodh, son of fire," a personal name usually Anglicized as Hugh. A Brehon family originally of Uí Maine, which settled in Ormond. 1

The family claim descent from Saint and Bishop Eoghan (d. 618), "of Ardsratha, now Ardstraw, in the county of Tyrone and diocese of Derry. Descended from Ugaine Mor on the father's side he was thus connected by kindred with the chieftains of Leinster, while through his mother, Muindech, he claimed relationship with the Ulster families." 2

Another source confirms the name descends from "the cineal Eoghain, [who] were the ' genus' or progeny of Eoghan, a great Irish chief contemporary with St. Patrick. The name is Anglicized to Owen and Eugene. " 3

Early Origins of the Eagan family

The surname Eagan was first found in County Tipperary (Irish: Thiobraid Árann), established in the 13th century in South-central Ireland, in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.

The ancient Egans were lawyers of Ui Maine, a region which is today called Galway, Roscommon and Offaly. The earliest surviving Irish law manuscript, In Senchas MÃ¡r, was written prior to 1350 at a school (patronized by Mac Aodhagain) at Duniry, near Loughrea.

Early History of the Eagan family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Eagan research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1172 and 1740 are included under the topic Early Eagan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Eagan Spelling Variations

The Middle Ages saw a great number of spelling variations for surnames common to the Irish landscape. One reason for these variations is the fact that surnames were not rigidly fixed by this period. The following variations for the name Eagan were encountered in the archives: Egan, Eagan, Keegan, MacEgan, Kegan, Keagan and many more.

Early Notables of the Eagan family

Another 38 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Eagan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Eagan Ranking

In the United States, the name Eagan is the 6,922^nd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 4

Eagan migration to the United States +

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the Eagan family came to North America quite early:

Eagan Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Adam Eagan, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1765 5

Eagan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Robert Eagan, who arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in 1813 5
Francis Eagan, who landed in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1840 5
T Eagan, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 5
Charles Eagan, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 5
Ellen Eagan, aged 18, who landed in New York in 1854 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Eagan migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Eagan Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. Nicholas Eagan U.E. who settled in Saint John, New Brunswick c. 1784 6

Eagan Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Edward Eagan, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1807
Gilbert Eagan, aged 32, a yeoman, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the ship "Elizabeth" from Galway, Ireland
Mary Eagan, aged 13, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Prudence" in 1838

Eagan migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Eagan Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mary Eagan, aged 27, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Marshall Bennett" 7
Michael Eagan, aged 29, who arrived in South Australia in 1858 aboard the ship "Storm Cloud"
Mr. George Eagan, British Convict who was convicted in London, England for 20 years, transported aboard the "Corona" on 13th October 1866, arriving in Western Australia, Australia 8

Eagan migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Eagan Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Georgina Eagan, aged 19, a housemaid, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Queen Bee" in 1872

Contemporary Notables of the name Eagan (post 1700) +

Jack Eagan (1878-1937), American boxer who won a sliver and bronze at the 1904 Olympic games
James J. "Jim" Eagan (1926-2000), American politician, Mayor of Florissant, Missouri
Kevin Eagan (b. 1954), retired American soccer defender who played in the North American Soccer League
William "Bill" Eagan (1869-1905), American professional baseball player
Margery Eagan (b. 1954), American columnist with the Boston Herald, a talk radio host, frequent guest on CNN, ABC, Fox News
Charles Eugene "Truck" Eagan (1877-1949), American Major League Baseball infielder
Daisy Eagan (b. 1979), American actress
Edward "Eddie" Patrick Francis Eagan (1897-1967), two-time American Olympic gold medalist
Dennis Eagan, American Republican politician, U.S. Collector of Internal Revenue for Florida, 1879; Postmaster at Jacksonville, Florida, 1897-1902 9
Brian A. Eagan, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New Mexico, 2008 9
... (Another 17 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Eagan Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Fortitudine et prudentia
Motto Translation: With fortitude and prudence.

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) MARSHALL BENNETT 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/marshallbennett1852.shtml
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/corona
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html