Regan

• My parents named me Regan and they changed it to Reegan as time went on so folks would pronounce it REE-gan.  Both of my parents were actors and my father was an English professor and director.  Regan is the name of one of King Lear's daughter.  She was the daughter that threw him out of his own kingdom and tried to have him killed.  Cordelia was his favorite.  My parents have a weird sense of humor, but I have seen the play many times and know the plot myself.  Anyway, Lear was a Scottish King and you see the name in Scottish, Irish and Welsh name lists from the period. Just a clarification.  I feel bad thinking anyone is saying Regan was Lear's favorite daughter...especialy if its their own name...more folks know that story than you might imagine.
• This is the name of King Lear's favorite daughter in Shakespeare's greatest play. And is the last name of our greatest President in the 1900's.

• That's the PROPER spelling by the way (and it's pronouced REEgan, not RAYgan as in Ronald for all the idiots out there who insist on pronouncing it that way). My daughter's name is Regan - it's beautiful, elegant, strong, classic (yes CLASSIC), uncommon but not weird. It drives me crazy that no one remembers it from King Lear, and that many people think it's just some stupid yuppy name I made up. It's origin is Irish, and it means "little ruler". If you want to argue that it's traditionally a boy's name just ask ol' Will what he thought about that in the 15th century.

As a first name, Regan (pronounced /REE gun/ was first coined by Shakespeare for his play "King Lear." It is borne by the middle of King Lear's daughters, between Goneril and Cordelia. As with many names Shakespeare coined, where he derived it from is debated by scholars. Perhaps coincidentally, Regan is also an Irish surname, an anglicization of Ó Riagáin. This name may come from a diminutive form of Rí, meaning "king" or else stem from a word meaning "furious" or "vehement." In the USA it is often given in honor or recognition of Ronald Reagan, the former president of the USA (pronounced /RAY gun/, although I've heard that he originally pronounced it /REE gun/ and changed the pronunciation somewhere down the line). Because of this, you often find such spellings as Raegan, Raygan, Ragan etc.
See Also: Raegan (girl), Reagan, Regan (boy), Raegan (boy)

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