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1/21/2022, 9:40 PM Mike C update #111
2/12/2007, 1:03 AM Mike C earliest recorded revision

Gender Masculine

Meaning & History

From Old Irish Gobbán, derived from gobae "smith" and a diminutive suffix. It could also be a derivative of the name of the Irish smith god Goibniu (from the same root). This was the name of a few early saints, such as a 7th-century abbot of Killamery. In later folklore, the smith god and the saints seem to have conflated into the legendary figure Gobán Saor ("Gobán the builder"), a master architect and builder of churches.