Frequency: (5611)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Macháin ‘descendant of Machán’, which Woulfe suggests is a variant of Mochán, a diminutive of moch ‘early’, itself a short form of a name formed with this element, of which there are several, and a variant of Mohan of Kilmacduagh in County Galway.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
