Find out how popular the last name Halligan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Halligan.

Halligan, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Halligan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Halligan in America

Halligan is the 10013th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Halligan surname appeared 3,220 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Halligan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Halligan to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Halligan

The surname Halligan originated in Ireland, derived from the Gaelic personal name "O'Halligan" or "O'Halogan." This name can be traced back to the 10th century and is believed to have originated in County Cork.

The name Halligan is thought to be an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic surname "O'hAllógáin," which means "descendant of Allógán," a personal name derived from the Old Irish word "allóc," meaning "foreign" or "estranged." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived abroad or was considered an outsider in some way.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Halligan can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The annals mention a "Donnchadh O'Halligan" who was a distinguished Irish poet and died in 1391.

In the 16th century, during the Tudor conquest of Ireland, the Halligan family held lands in County Cork and were considered a prominent Irish sept (clan). A notable figure from this time was Dermot Halligan, who is mentioned in the manuscript "The Composition Book of Connacht" as a landowner in County Sligo in 1585.

Another notable bearer of the name was Patrick Halligan (1789-1869), an Irish Catholic priest who served as the first Bishop of Achonry from 1858 until his death. He played a significant role in promoting education and establishing schools in the Achonry diocese during his tenure.

In the late 19th century, John Halligan (1871-1945) was a prominent Irish nationalist and journalist who co-founded the Irish News, a newspaper that advocated for Irish independence from Britain.

A more recent figure was William Halligan (1927-2004), an American attorney and judge who served as a United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut from 1979 to 1992.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Halligan

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Halligan.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Halligan was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Halligan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Halligan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Halligan, please contact us.

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