# Govan

> English word · Proper noun · frequency rank #44,816

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

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **gown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govan-vs-gown)
- **gran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govan-vs-gran)
- **gove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govan-vs-gove)
- **guan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govan-vs-guan)
- **goya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govan-vs-goya)
- **groan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govan-vs-groan)
- **govern** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govan-vs-govern)
- **Goa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goa-vs-govan)
- **gan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gan-vs-govan)
- **goal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-govan)
- **goat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goat-vs-govan)
- **goin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goin-vs-govan)
- **goon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goon-vs-govan)
- **goad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goad-vs-govan)
- **given** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/given-vs-govan)
- **Gavin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gavin-vs-govan)
- **Golan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/golan-vs-govan)
- **glean** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glean-vs-govan)
- **Gopal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gopal-vs-govan)
- **Gorman** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gorman-vs-govan)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ggovan`, `goavn`, `govann`, `govna`, `govvan`, `gvoan`, `ogvan`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/govan