MACQUIGGAN, Macwiggan: Names recorded in Galloway. From Irish MacGuagain, a corrupt form of MacEochaidhin, diminutive of Eochaid, a common Gaelic personal name in early Scots records.

The form MacGuiggin is now much more numerous than MacQuiggin, though the latter was the usual variant in the sixteenth century when the anglicization of Gaelic names became general for official purposes. As such it appears several times in the Fiants in Counties Fermanagh, Down and Armagh and once in Co. Tyrone as O'Quiggin. It is, however, Mac Guaigín in modern Irish and is definitely not an O name. MacGoogan (also MacGookan) of Co. Antrim (MacGuagáin) is basically the same. According to Woulfe these are modern forms of Mag Eochaidhín (anglice also MacGookin, MacGuckian etc.) and Mag Eochagán respectively: as the latter is normally Geoghegan I am reluctant to endorse that statement.

True MacGuigan and Geoghegan have been reported as interchangeable in south Down, but that is no evidence of original identity. I think in fact that having regard to the extent to which names have been corrupted in the course of time and to their many variant spellings, it is now impossible to distinguish definitely between MacGuiggin, MacGuigan, MacGuckian and their numerous variants, * which are still to be found in considerable numbers in the Ulster counties mentioned above.

*In the section on Quigley in Irish Families (p. 249) no reference was made to an Ulster sept of the name. That in Inishowen should have been mentioned-in the “census” of 1659-60 O'Quigley is the fifth most numerous name in that barony.

Mac Guaigín This Ulster name is now frequently anglicized as MacGuiggin