Ewan is a Scottish name with multiple sources. It is usually an

anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

of the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

name Eòghann "noble born" and therefore derived ultimately from Latin ''

Eugenius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a Western Roman emperor from 392 to 394, unrecognized by the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious p ...

''. A

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

name, ''Uuen'' (or ''Wen'') meaning "(the) warrior", or "born of the mountain", may instead be the source. If the source is Latin ''Eugenius'', it would make Ewan a cognate of Welsh, Cornish and

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

names including

Owain Owain () is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Y ...

(Owen) and

Ouen Audoin (; AD 609 – on 24 August 684), venerated as Saint Audoin, was a Frankish bishop, courtier, hagiographer and saint. He authored ''Vita Sancti Eligii'' which outlines the life and deeds of Eligius, his close friend and companion in the ro ...

. However, these may be older names derived from Britonnic language words referring to

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

trees or

ovine Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to dom ...

s. Another possible more likely source is

Euan Euan is a Scottish, male given name, most common throughout the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, due to the influence of Scots in both nations. It is usually an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name Eòghann, "noble born" and therefore de ...

, a Gaelic form of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

'' Johannes/Ioannes''. As such it would be a cognate of

Eoin Eoin () is a masculine Irish-language given name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is Eòin () and both are closely related to the Welsh language, Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish and English John (given name), John. In the Irish language, ...

, Ian and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. (''Euan'' is also an alternate name for the Roman god

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

.) Ewen is most common as a

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is also the source of surnames, mostly connected to

Clan MacEwen Clan MacEwen or Clan MacEwan is a Scottish clan recorded in the fifteenth century as Clan Ewen of Otter. Historically, there have been several different MacEwen clans and septs, with some distinct, and some interrelated, origins for the modern ...

and including McEwan, Ewan and Ewen. It is after these surnames that

McEwan’s McEwan's is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was originally brewed by William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The McEwan's brand passed to Heineken in 2008 after their purchase of Scottish & New ...

Beer and

MacEwan University Grant MacEwan University, commonly known as MacEwan University, is a public university located in Downtown Edmonton, Alberta. Originally established as a community college which was named in honor of Dr. Grant MacEwan, 9th Lieutenant Governor of ...

are named.

People with the given name

In the arts and media

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...

(1814–1895), British architect *

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a British folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as o ...

(1915–1989), British folk singer-songwriter *

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...

(born 1971), Scottish actor *

Ewan Mitchell Ewan Robert Mitchell is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the medieval series '' The Last Kingdom'' (2017–2022), the BBC war drama '' World on Fire'' (2019–2023), and the HBO fantasy series '' House of the Dragon'' (2022� ...

(born 1997), English actor * Ewan Stewart (born 1957), Scottish actor

In sports

Ewan MacDonald Ewan MacDonald (born 17 November 1975 in Inverness, Scotland) is a Scottish curler. Representing Scotland, he is a three-time World Champion, playing second for Hammy McMillan in 1999 and playing third for David Murdoch in 2006 and 2009. He ...

(born 1975), Scottish curler * Ewan McGrady, Australian rugby league footballer *

Ewan Thompson Ewan Thompson (born 29 March 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1997. He was recruited from the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as ...

(born 1977), Australian (Australian rules) footballer

In other fields

Ewan Birney John Frederick William Birney (known as Ewan Birney) (born 6 December 1972) is Executive Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). He also serves as non-executive director of Genomics England, chair of the Global Alliance ...

(born 1972), British bioinformatician * Ewan Anderson (born 1938), expert on geopolitics, economic and social geography

Characters

*Ewan, a character from the TV series ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'' Season 1 Episode 2 *Ewan O'Hara, Juliet O'Hara's brother on the TV series ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...

'' *Ewan, a guard in the book ''The Wizard's Child'' *Ewan Doherty, Head of English in

Teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, a UK Channel 4 show *Ewan the Dream Sheep, a popular baby sleeping toy *Ewan Cameron, a minor character in Dragonfly in Amber, second book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

References