Family Name History

The Scottish surname McEwen is patronymic in origin, belonging to that group of surnames derived from the forename or  Christian name of the original bearer's father. In this case, McEwen is the anglicized form of the Scots Gaelic name MacEoghainn and simply means the "son of Eoghainn" or the "son of Ewen".

The surname is also found in the variants MacEwan, MacEuen and MacEwing, and in the further anglicizations of Ewenson, Ewanson, Eunson and Evinson. The forename itself is the Gaelic form of the English John which comes from the Hebrew Johannan, meaning "God has favoured". Occasionally the forename appears in medieval documents in the Latinized form of Eugenius. The Surname is recorded as early as the twelfth century when one Malcolm MacEwen is known to have been a witness to the charter by the Earl of Atholl to St. Andrews in the year 1174..

In 1219 on Gilpatrick MacEwen was one of the perambulators of the lands of Kynblathmund and he noted in the Registers of the Abbey of Aberbrothoc. In 1331 one Patrick McEwyn was the provost of Wigtown, while in 1335 one Johannes M'Eogan was cited to give evidence regarding the lands of Glassre in Argyll.

Other early records of the surname give the variants Makewin and Makevin. In Galloway the McEwens are a branch of the Clan  MacLachlan, their neighbours on the banks of Loch Fyne. Tradition holds that the eponymous Ewen and Lachlan were brothers who were related to the ancient Kings of Ireland by descent through Somerled, Lord of the Isles. In Perthshire,  the McEwens are part of the Clan MacDougal, also ancestors of Somerled through a different line.