Worgan could be German, but most available information suggests that it is prevalently of Welsh origin and a variant of the now much more common Morgan.

George, I've had a further look at this as I'm very distantly related to Worgans from Woolaston who date from about 1700. Bear in mind also that there are prior threads on this forum involving the name Worgan where you might pick up something of interest.

Take a while to wander through the transcribed parish records on this site. You'll need a while too, as there are over 2,000 Worgan entries, not surprisingly as it appears from elsewhere that 5% of all instances of this surname occur in Gloucestershire. You'll find for example that the Worgans of Staunton go back to a burial in 1685 and a marriage in 1687, but even in those days they were liberally spread across the Forest. The earliest I just saw was a burial of Robert Worgan, son of Thomas, at Awre in 1538 which is as early a trace as you get from parish records. They were also numerous well over 300 years ago in parishes such as Hewelsfield, St Briavels and particularly Newland where there had been 24 baptisms of Worgans by 1600, often coming from what's transcribed as Clowerwall which again is the subject of prior threads and probably means Clearwell. There is also evidence of Worgans at Newnham in the 1590s.

Given such prolific circumstantial evidence, it seems highly likely that the Worgans both in Staunton and elsewhere were numerous as indigenous Forest folk long before any viable suggestion of a German Worgan could arise, but if you do find proof of it, obviously a lot of people would be fascinated.

Hi George

The story through our 'Frowen' family from the Forest was that their name was German too! In fact my g grandmother was said to refer to her husband as 'That ****** German' when she was annoyed with him.

I've never found any proof of it though;)

Simone x

Hi George,
I have always believed the surname to be Welsh in origin & patronymic. Being a corruption of the Old Welsh name, 'GWGAN'.
During my research into my own Worgan ancestors, I have purchased many Worgan Wills from the Gloucester RO - some I transcribed myself (wearing my other hat) & some have been transcribed by Glenn & Lynne Robertson, & which are now on this site. Do take a look at them, besides being a gold mine for genealogical information, they give a background to the lives of these long ago people.
The earliest Will I purchased, belonged to Robert Wurgan of Newland (note the spelling) which was proved in 1548. He had one surviving daughter Elinor & 5 sons, Thomas, William, John, Richard & Edward. Most of the Worgan families in the Forest today can be traced back to these 5 sons, as they spread out into the villages & hamlets of West Dean.
My own direct ancestor, John Worgan of Staunton, (circa 1660-1691) married Elinor Jones in 1687. Over the years I have compiled many extensive family trees & it would appear that we share a common ancestor in Elinor Worgan nee Jones.
I can be contacted via the envelope link for more information.