Frequency: (1505)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Americanized form of Jewish (from Ukraine) Kogan, from the Russian pronunciation of Cohen.
2. Irish (of Welsh origin): habitational name from an area near Cardiff, which may have been named with a Welsh word meaning ‘bowl’, ‘depression’. There is evidence of a family named de Cogan in the 12th century, and by the 13th century the name was also associated with Somerset, Devon, County Limerick, and County Cork.
3. Irish (Leitrim): variant of Coogan.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
