Sloan Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Sloan last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Sloan last name
Meaning of the Sloan last name: descendant of Sluaghán (army). Sloan is an Irish surname from Gaelic Ó Sluagháin, from sluagh, "host, army". The family is linked with County Armagh and nearby parts of Down and Antrim, and the last name is most common in Ulster. A curious detail: Sir Hans Sloane of County Down, whose collection founded the British Museum, used the spelling with an e, and London's Sloane Square is named after him.
Arms associated with the Sloan name
In Gaelic Ireland heraldry was often linked with a whole sept rather than one person, and the coat of arms associated with the Sloan name grew in that custom.
Get your full Sloan family history
This is only a glimpse of the Sloan story. The full Sloan history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Sloan coat of arms. Get the full Sloan report.
Sloan name FAQ
What does the Sloan name mean?
Descendant of Sluaghán (army). Common variants include Sloane, Slowan, Slone.
Where does the Sloan surname come from?
It originates in Northern Ireland, and is also found in the United States, Scotland and Ireland.
Is there a Sloan coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Sloan coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland; Patrick Woulfe, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames (1923); Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).