Regan

Regan has an Irish surname history through Ó Riagáin, meaning “descendant of Riagán.” The personal name Riagán is traditionally connected with the idea of a little king, although the family surname itself identifies descent. That distinction makes Regan a particularly natural choice for someone carrying an Irish family name into the first-name position.

There is also a longstanding literary Regan: one of the daughters in Shakespeare's King Lear. Her story gives the spelling a recognizable association separate from its use as an Irish surname. Regan is used for boys and girls, and it may be pronounced differently from family to family. Reagan is a closely related surname spelling, but a parent's choice may reflect a specific relative or simply a preference for the shorter written form.