McCown

For other uses, see McCown (disambiguation).

McCown
Family name
Meaning	Descendant of (Various)
Region of origin	Ulster Manx Scotland
Language(s) of origin	Celtic
Related names	McCoan McCoen McCohan McCohen McCone McCowan MacCowan McCowen MacCowen McCowin MacCowin McCowne McCoun McCoyne McCuan McCuen McCune McCunn McElhone McEown McEwan MacEwan McEwen MacEwen McGoun McGowan MacGowan McGown McHowan McHowen Mcilhone McKeoan McKeown McKeon McKewn McKown McKuen McOwen McQuown

McCown is an Celtic-language surname with several etymological origins.

Etymology

McCown is an Celtic-language surname. There are several possible etymologies for the name. Its variants include anglicised forms of the Gaelic names Mac Eòghainn, Mac Eòin, Mac Còmhghan, MacEachain, and Mac Gobhainn.

The Gaelic prefixes, ( Mac, Mc and O' )' translate to "descendant of" in English. The Gaelic prefixes ( Giolla, Gille, Gil, El, Il ) translate to "servant of" in English.^[1]

Mac Eóghainin

The Gaelic name Eóghainin translates into modern day English as Owen. The name Eoghan may be derived from eo ("yew") and is thought to fully translate to Born of the Yew.^[2] It also means Well Born based on the Latinized form of Eugenius.^[3] This name often has very strong associations to the Irish King Eógan mac Néill for which Clan MacEwen is thought to have ancestral ties. Other notable Eógans include Owain mab Urien, Owain Gwynedd, Owain Ddantgwyn, Éogan Mór, Saint Eoghan, Eógan I of Strathclyde, Eógan II of Strathclyde, Eóganan mac Óengusa, Eóghan of Argyll and Éogan mac Durthacht,.

Mac Eòin

The name Eòin is a Gaelic form of John.^[4] Mac Eoin often anglicized as (McKeon/McKeown) is thought to have derived, in some cases, from Mac Eoin Bissett.

Mac Còmhghan

The name Còmhghan and its variants ( Còmhan, Comhainn, Còmhain ) is derived from comh ("together") and gan-, gen- ("born").^[5] a.k.a Twins and is frequently associated with the surname Cowan. The name Mac Giolla Còmhghan, translates into English as decendent of the servant of Comhghain. This generally translates to mean follower of St. Comgan. St. Comgan was the son of Cellach Cualann, brother of St. Caintigerna and uncle of St. Fillan. Mac Giolla Còmhghan is frequently associated with the anglicized surname McElhone.^[6]

Mac Eachainn

MacEachainn is a Pictish name of Galloway Scotland. The family name McCaughan (pronounched Me Cachan in the old lands; as Me Cawhan in the Americans) is found variously recorded in public and private documents since the eleventh century, and with C, K, and G, of which C predominates, and is the Anglicized phoenetic rendering of their Gaelic surname MacEachain, meaning the "son of Eachain"..^[7]

Mac Gobhainn

In Ireland and Scotland, the word for smith, gobha, is found in the surname MacGowan/McGowan. This surname is an Anglicised form of Mac Gobhann (Scottish Gaelic), Mac Gabhann (Irish), meaning "descendant of the smith".^[8]

Other possibilities

Other possible derivations of the name may come from the Manx language word Cowan and it's variants (Cowanagh, Coan, Couan) which are defined as either a shelter between two hills, or inhabitant of the plains.^[9] Also worth mentioning is the Old Irish word cúan which means bay, gulf, harbour or sea.^[10] The name Cuan can also mean a little warrior and be synonymous with the names Quain, Quane, and Quan.^[11]

Clan Associations

If the surname McCown is a spelling variation of MacEwen, then McCowns may belong to Clan MacEwen. Clan Colquhoun, Clan MacDougall and Clan Campbell.^[12] of Scotland recognize the surname variants of Cowan, McCowan and McOwan as septs of their clans. Clan Donald and Clan MacPherson recognize MacGowan, MacGown and MacGoun as septs of their clans.

Y-DNA

McCown males that have participated in Genealogical DNA testing have all received positive results for haplogroup R1b1a2 (R-M269). Very few McCowns have taken deeper subclade tests beyond R1b1a2 (R-M269) . Of those who have, all have tested positive for SNP R1b1a2a1a1b4 (R-L21). A subset of those McCowns have also tested positive for R1b1a2a1a1b4c (R-P66) which is seemingly rare and exclusive. However, not all McCowns test positive for R1b1a2a1a1b4c (R-P66) which suggests that there are likely multiple origins of the McCown surname.

Persons with the surname

• Bob McCown, (born 1952) American-born Canadian, sports talk show personality
• Frank McCown, also known as Rory Calhoun, (1922–1999) American, television actor
• John P. McCown, (1815–1879) American, Confederate States Army general
• Josh McCown, (born 1979) American, professional American football player
• Luke McCown, (born 1981) American, professional American football player
• Randy McCown, (born 1977) American, College football player
• Theodore D. McCown, (1908–1989), American, paleoanthropologist, University of California, Berkeley faculty

Other

• McCown's Longspur: Rhynchophanes mccownii, is a small ground-feeding bird.
• McKownville: Heavily developed suburb of Albany County, New York

References

1. ^ The 'Muls' and 'Gils': Some Irish Surnames, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume III, 1898, http://www.libraryireland.com/articles/Muls/Muls.php 
2. ^ Yew, www.encyclopedia.com, http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/yew.aspx 
3. ^ Eoghan, www.libraryireland.com, http://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/eoghan-eoghan.php 
4. ^ EÓIN, www.libraryireland.com, http://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/eoin-eoin.php 
5. ^ COMHGHAN, www.libraryireland.com, http://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/comhghan-cowan.php .
6. ^ Mac Giolla Chomhdhain, www.libraryireland.com, http://www.libraryireland.com/names/macg/mac-giolla-chomhghain.php 
7. ^ The McCaughans of Scotland and Ireland, www.electricscotland.com, http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/maceachain2.htm 
8. ^ [1]
9. ^ The Manx Dictionary, www.archive.org, http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027086945/cu31924027086945_djvu.txt 
10. ^ cúan, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cúan#Old_Irish} 
11. ^ O'Cuiain: A Little Warrior, Lagin Pedigrees from the O'Clery Book of Genealogies: MacMurrough - Kings of Leinster, http://clanmaclochlainn.com/ohart.htm} 
12. ^ MacCowan sept of Clan Campbell, Clan Campbell Society of North America, http://www.ccsna.org/septs.htm#A23 

External links

• http://www.mccown.org/
• http://www.familytreedna.com/public/mccown/default.aspx
• http://mccownscotsorirish.blogspot.com/
• http://www.vnla.com/vnl/gen/mcq/Mcquown.htm
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3030889.stm
• http://www.libraryireland.com/names/mace/mac-eoin.php
• http://www.libraryireland.com/names/mace/mac-eoghain.php
• http://www.libraryireland.com/names/macc/mac-comhdhain-mac-comhghain.php
• http://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/comhghan-cowan.php