Is the name Worgan German? (General)

by peteressex , Thursday, November 15, 2012, 07:06 (4386 days ago) @ rookancestrybest

From what I can see of National Archives indexing, the earliest record of a "Wogan" as such appears to be in a deed of December 1292 made at Karliol (now Carlisle) and held by Cumbria Archives. Would that Irish archives were on line to such an extent, and then we might know more.

To a considerable extent, historical differences in surname spelling are not significant in themselves, since most people couldn't read or write and therefore what mattered was how your name sounded rather than how it was spelt. For example the deed of 1622 available on this site involving the Vicar of Lydney, Anthony Sterry, itself also contains the spelling "Steery" at least in transcription, and Sterrys turn up in records as other variants like Sterrey, Starry, Stirry, Stirrey and Sterrie.

Hence the virtues of the soundex facility when searching parish records on here. I wouldn't be surprised if, due to the well-known Terry Wogan, you get quite a few Worgans being called Wogan even today, be they Foresters, Irish, German or Cumbrian.