Govan

G2O1V4A1N1

proper noun

A surname.

OriginIrish gobán →
UncommonScrabble 9
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Meanings

proper nounGovan (countable and uncountable, plural Govans)

plural Govans

  1. countableuncountableA surname.
  2. countableuncountableAn urban area in Glasgow, Glasgow council area, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde (OS grid ref NS5565).
  3. countableuncountableA small town in Saskatchewan, Canada.
  4. countableuncountableA small town in Bamberg County, South Carolina, United States.
  5. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Washington, United States, considered to be a ghost town.

Origin

  1. Irishgobán“gag, muzzle”
  2. EnglishGovan

Uncertain. Traditionally said to derive from Irish gobán (“gag, muzzle”), equivalent to gob (“beak”) + -án. Clancy (1997) and Forsyth (2002) preferred a Cumbric formation, equivalent to Welsh go- (“under”) + fan, the soft mutation of ban (“peak”).

More words from Irish

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Vogan
Cite this entry
APA

Govan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Govan

MLA

“Govan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Govan. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Govan,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Govan.

Source: Govan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.