User-submitted Reference

Root: Sven (Nordic).

Swegan comes from Scotland, and is the Americanized version of MacSwegan. Even then, it is derived from family in Ireland, that spelled it McSwiggan.

The name is derived from the Norse invaders of the Emerald Island. Family legend has it that the Irish and Vikings fought hard against each other during the day, but the Irish, being what they were, would end the day gathering the dead and wounded, taking care of them by getting the survivors drunk so as not to feel any pain. One day, one Irishman looked at his Viking foe and invited him to get drunk with them. Apparently, the Viking was tired and agreed. He enjoyed himself a bit, and the next day, showed up with friends after battle, along with some of their own booze, and partied well into the night with their foes. It became a standard thing: fight the enemy all day, get drunk at night. From this, friendships were born. Somewhere along the way, one Irishman had a spinster sister that needed a husband. He introduced him to one of his Viking foes, the couple wed, and the Vikings were defeated.

As the peoples started intermingling, many of the words from the Vikings found their way into the Irish language and culture. One of those words was Sven, which meant 'boy' or 'servant'. Somewhere along the way, some of the Swiggans (or their sons, the McSwiggans) ended up in Scotland (not unheard of in those days) and the spelling changed to MacSwegan.

In the early part of the 1800s, a MacSwegan immigrated to the US and started a family in the New York/New Jersey area but steadily moved westward. By the end of the century, they were already in Western Pennsylvania, poised on moving into eastern Ohio, where they have a strong foothold. Between the Civil War and the 1880s, though, there was a change. Many of the family dropped the 'Mac' from their name because they were confused with their Irish Counterparts (and the bigotry that entailed).