[1] The given name dates back to Primitive Irish in the form ᚏᚑᚅᚐᚅᚅ  [ᚋᚐᚊ  ᚉᚑᚋᚑᚌᚐᚅᚅ] (RONANN [MAQ COMOGANN]), found as an ogham inscription which translates as 'Rónán, son of Comgán'.

[2][3] In Irish Mythology, the name is derived from a legend, which tells the story of a mother seal who is warned never to stray too closely to the land.

Although she lives as the wife of a fisherman and bears him children, known as "ronans" or "little seals", she never quite loses her "sea-longing".

Eventually she finds the "seal-skin" which the fisherman has hidden and slips back into the ocean.

However, she cannot forget her husband and children and can be seen swimming close to the shore, keeping a watchful and loving eye on them.