This interesting name, generally found as McGuigan, is of Scottish and Irish origin, and is the Anglicization of the Gaelic 'MacGuagain', itself an altered version of 'MacEochagain', which is a personal name, and a diminutive ('little' or 'son of') of 'Eogan' and 'Ewan', Irish and Scottish forms of John. There are listed no less than fifteen modern synonyms of M(a)cGuigan, including, MacGugan, MacGoogan, MacGuiggan, MacQuiggan, Maguigan, McGucki(a)n and McWiggan. This name is fairly numerous in Ireland, the great majority of them in Counties Tyrone and Antrim. The following examples illustrate the name development after 1541, Gilcallum McGowgane (1650), Catherine M'Gugane (1684) and Angus McGugan (1693). Recorded in Kilmarnock, Ayr, Scotland, is the marriage of Thomas McGougan and Jean Hill on April 30th 1847. Elizabeth daughter of Patrick and Margaret McGoughan was christened at Lisburn, Antrim on December 25th 1866. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John McGowgane, which was dated 1541, Kilcobenach, Kintyre, Scotland, during the reign of King James V, 1513-1542. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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