The story
- Ilocano · derived fromBigaan
- Spanish · borrowed fromVigan
- English todayVigan
Borrowed from Spanish Vigan, also spelled as Bigan in early maps like the Velarde map (1734), originally from Ilocano Bigaan, derived from biga (“giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos)”) + -an (locative suffix), meaning "the place where giant taro abounds" possibly referring to the Alocasia macrorrhizos plants that once grew abundantly along the banks of the Mestizo River.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.