[Facts] Gowan
I have found multiple examples of ancestors of mine living in the South Lake District area called Gowan (usually male, with variant spellings Gowan, Gowin, Gawin, Gowen). There is a river in that area called Gowan and doing some research on the name I am curious as to its origin.
In Gaelic Gowen/Gowan means "blacksmith" and the surname MacGowan is common. In scottish Gowan means "daisy" - both are possible because there were many Irish based vikings who swept through the area, and Cumbria shares many common words with Scottish. But I can't help wondering, could it simply be a bad spelling of the welsh name Gawain?
Does anyone have any information on it? Has anyone else ever heard of it being used as a person's name.
In Gaelic Gowen/Gowan means "blacksmith" and the surname MacGowan is common. In scottish Gowan means "daisy" - both are possible because there were many Irish based vikings who swept through the area, and Cumbria shares many common words with Scottish. But I can't help wondering, could it simply be a bad spelling of the welsh name Gawain?
Does anyone have any information on it? Has anyone else ever heard of it being used as a person's name.