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

Nelligan, 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 Nelligan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nelligan in America

Nelligan is the 21288th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nelligan surname appeared 1,231 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Nelligan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nelligan 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 Nelligan

The surname Nelligan has its origins in Ireland, dating back to the 17th century. It is believed to be an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name "Ó Niallagáin," which means "descendant of Niallagán," a diminutive form of the personal name Niall.

Nelligan is primarily concentrated in County Cork, Ireland, where it is thought to have originated. The name is also found in neighboring counties such as Kerry and Limerick. In early records, the name was often spelled as Niallagán or Niallagane before being Anglicized to its current form.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Nelligan surname dates back to the 1659 Census of Ireland, where a family bearing the name was listed in the parish of Kilmaloda, County Limerick. The name also appears in the Petty Census of 1659, suggesting that the Nelligans were well-established in the region by that time.

In the 19th century, the Nelligan name gained prominence with the birth of Emile Nelligan, a renowned Canadian poet born in Montreal in 1879. Considered one of the pioneers of modern French-Canadian poetry, Nelligan's work was heavily influenced by the Symbolist movement and explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.

Another notable figure with the Nelligan surname was John Nelligan, an Irish politician and member of the Irish Parliamentary Party. Born in 1851 in County Cork, Nelligan served as a Member of Parliament for the College Green constituency in Dublin from 1885 to 1900.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the Nelligan name can be found in the 1860 United States Federal Census, where a family bearing the surname was listed as residing in New York City. This suggests that the Nelligans were among the many Irish immigrants who fled to America during the Great Famine of the 1840s.

Other notable individuals with the Nelligan surname include Michael Nelligan, an Irish-American labor leader and union organizer born in 1845, and James Nelligan, an American baseball player who played for the Chicago White Stockings in the late 19th century.

While the Nelligan name has its roots in Ireland, it has since spread to various parts of the world, with families bearing the surname found in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nelligan

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

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

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

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