Hogan

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: chiefly Ó hÓgáin, borne by a Dál gCais family in north Tipperary and an unrelated Corca Laoighdhe family in west Cork, with a few Hogans in Galway and elsewhere descending from other surnames.^[1][2][3]

The name is built on the personal name Ógán, usually explained as “a diminutive of óg, 'young'”. Woulfe explains Ógán simply as a diminutive of óg. Wikipedia renders the personal name as 'young warrior'.^[1][6]

Place

Where the Hogans lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Hogan lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

The name over time

History

A name meaning 'young'

Hogan comes from Ó hÓgáin, built on the personal name Ógán, a diminutive of the adjective óg, 'young'. Wikipedia renders the name as 'young warrior'. The 'h' before the vowel is the normal Irish way of joining Ó to a name beginning with a vowel, and it is dropped in the feminine form Ní Ógáin. Woulfe used Seán Ó hÓgáin and Eibhlín Ní Ógáin, John and Ellen Hogan, to illustrate how Irish surnames change for women. Gaois treats Ó hÓgáin as the standard Irish form today.^[1][6][5][4]

A Dál gCais family in Ormond

The main Hogan family belonged to the Dál gCais, the Thomond dynasty that rose to great power in the 10th century and produced Brian Boru. Woulfe traces them to Coscrach, an uncle of Brian, and seats them at Ardcrony, in north Tipperary between Nenagh and Borrisokane. The district is now in the barony of Ormond Lower, though Wikipedia points out that the name Ormond was misapplied there: the land belonged to Muskerry Tire, which was subject to Thomond rather than to the eastern kingdom of Ormond.^[1][7][8][9]

Other Hogan origins

Not every Hogan descends from the Ardcrony family. Woulfe records a second Ó hÓgáin family in Corca Laoighdhe in south-west Cork. In Galway the name sometimes disguises Ó hEochagáin, an old Ulster surname, and Woulfe lists Hogan among the many anglicised forms of Ó hAodhagáin, more usually Egan or Hegan. In Ulster the same Irish name took the form Ó hÁgáin, giving O'Hagan, the name of the family who inaugurated the O'Neill kings at Tullaghoge in Co. Tyrone.^{[1][2][3][11]}

A Munster surname

By Woulfe's time Hogan had become a very common name in Munster, especially in Tipperary, Limerick, Clare and Cork, spreading well beyond the original territory around Nenagh. Wikipedia likewise describes it as mostly a Tipperary name. Seventeenth-century Limerick produced the best-remembered Hogan of the Williamite war: Michael 'Galloping' Hogan, a rapparee from the parish of Doon at the foot of the Slieve Phelim hills, who in 1690 guided Patrick Sarsfield and some 500 Jacobite troops to Ballyneety, where they blew up the Williamite siege train.^[1][6][12]

Tipperary Hogans in the revolutionary years

Two Tipperary Hogans became well known during the War of Independence. Michael Hogan, a Grangemockler man who had captained the county football team, was the only player shot dead when the Royal Irish Constabulary opened fire at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920; the Hogan Stand, built in 1924, is named after him. Seán Hogan, who used the Irish form Seán Ó hÓgáin, was one of the leaders of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade of the IRA.^[13][14]

Places linked to the name

• Ardcrony (Ard Cróine), Co. Tipperary — Seat of the Dál gCais Ó hÓgáin family, north of Nenagh.^[1][8]
• Ormond Lower (Urumhain Íochtarach), Co. Tipperary — The barony, with Nenagh as its chief town, that contains Ardcrony.^[9]
• Ballyneety, Co. Limerick — Where Galloping Hogan led Sarsfield's men to destroy the Williamite siege train in 1690.^[12]
• Hogan Stand, Croke Park, Co. Dublin — Stand built in 1924 and named after Michael Hogan, killed there on Bloody Sunday 1920.^[13]

Everyday lives

The Hogans in the census

Who the Hogans were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

Hogans All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Hogan bar

Given names

First names among the Hogans

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, Michael, Thomas, James; Mary, Margaret, Bridget, Annie, Ellen.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Related forms

• O'Hogan — The form keeping the Ó prefix; Woulfe records early spellings such as O Hogaine and O Hogane.^[1]
• Ní Ógáin — The Irish form used by women.^[5]
• O'Hagan, Hagan — From Ó hÁgáin, which Woulfe calls the northern form of the same Irish name; in practice a separate Ulster family.^[11]
• Houghegan — An English form of Ó hEochagáin, which in Galway was sometimes replaced by Hogan.^[2]
• Egan, Hegan, Hagan — Usual forms of Ó hAodhagáin, a different surname that occasionally also became Hogan.^[3]

Diaspora

The Hogans abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a Hogan coat of arms?

People

Notable people named Hogan

• Michael 'Galloping' Hogan (fl. 1690)
  Limerick rapparee who guided Sarsfield's raid on the Williamite siege train at Ballyneety.
• John Hogan (1800–1858)
  Sculptor from Tallow, Co. Waterford, who worked mainly in Rome; known for The Dead Christ.
• Edmund Hogan (1831–1917)
  Jesuit scholar who compiled the Onomasticon Goedelicum, an index of Irish place and tribe names.
• Ernest Hogan (1865–1909)
  First Black American entertainer to produce and star in a Broadway show.
• Patrick Hogan (1891–1936)
  Minister for Agriculture in the first governments of the Irish Free State.
• Michael Hogan (1896–1920)
  Tipperary footballer killed at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday; the Hogan Stand bears his name.
• Seán Hogan (1901–1968)
  A leader of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade of the IRA in the War of Independence.
• Ben Hogan (1912–1997)
  American golfer, winner of nine majors and one of the greatest players of the game.
• Paul Hogan (born 1939)
  Australian actor and comedian who co-wrote and starred in Crocodile Dundee (1986).
• Desmond Hogan (born 1950)
  Irish novelist, playwright and short-story writer, winner of the Rooney Prize in 1977.
• Phil Hogan (born 1960)
  Fine Gael minister and later European Commissioner for Agriculture and then for Trade.
• Noel Hogan (born 1971)
  Guitarist and co-songwriter of the Irish rock band the Cranberries.

Questions

Questions about the Hogan name

Evidence

Sources

1. Patrick Woulfe, Ó hÓgáin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
2. Patrick Woulfe, Ó hEochagáin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
3. Patrick Woulfe, Ó hAodhagáin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
4. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte (surname database), version 2 (2022). Cluster 'Ógán': Ó hÓgáin = Hogan.
5. Patrick Woulfe, Irish Surnames of Females, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
6. Wikipedia, Hogan (surname) (2026)
7. Wikipedia, Dál gCais (2026)
8. Wikipedia, Ardcroney (2026)
9. Wikipedia, Ormond Lower (2026)
10. Wikipedia, Corcu Loígde (2026)
11. Patrick Woulfe, Ó hÁgáin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
12. Wikipedia, Galloping Hogan (2026)
13. Wikipedia, Michael Hogan (Gaelic footballer) (2026)
14. Wikipedia, Seán Hogan (2026)
15. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries under 'Hogan'; no entry for O'Hogan.
16. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.