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

Milligan, 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 Milligan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Milligan in America

Milligan is the 1597th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Milligan surname appeared 22,416 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Milligan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Milligan 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 Milligan

The surname Milligan originates from Scotland and is derived from the ancient Gaelic name, MacMillan or MacGilleMhaolain, meaning "son of the tonsured servant" or "son of the bald or tonsured one." This name dates back to the Middle Ages when it was not uncommon for a young boy to have his head shaved as a symbol of his devotion to the church.

The name Milligan is believed to have first appeared in the Scottish Highlands, particularly in the regions of Argyll and the Hebrides. Early recordings of the name can be found in various historical documents, such as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, where a certain Gyllemihaelmore Macillegan is mentioned in 1292.

One of the earliest known references to the name Milligan can be traced back to the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a collection of instruments recording the submission of Scottish nobles to Edward I of England. In this document, the name appears as "Milelgan."

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Milligan. One of the earliest was Sir James Milligan (1571-1640), a Scottish merchant and politician who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1621 to 1622.

Another prominent figure was Ralph Milligan (1622-1680), an English Puritan minister and writer who published several religious works during the 17th century.

In the 18th century, John Milligan (1753-1805) was a Scottish surveyor and geographer who is best known for his work in mapping the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides Islands.

During the 19th century, William Milligan (1821-1892) was a Scottish biblical scholar and professor of divinity at the University of Aberdeen. He made significant contributions to the study of New Testament Greek and was recognized for his expertise in biblical criticism.

More recently, Spike Milligan (1918-2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, poet, and actor, best known for his work with the British comedy group, The Goon Show. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in British comedy and is often credited with paving the way for the Monty Python troupe.

The surname Milligan has also been associated with various place names throughout Scotland, such as Milligan's Knoll, a hill located in the Scottish Borders, and Milligan's Burn, a stream in Ayrshire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Milligan

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

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 Milligan 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 Milligan 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 Milligan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!