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

Phelan, 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 Phelan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Phelan in America

Phelan is the 3382nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Phelan surname appeared 10,562 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Phelan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Phelan 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 Phelan

The surname Phelan is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic personal name "Faoláin" which means "a wolf" or "little wolf". It is believed to have originated in County Laois, Ireland, where the name was prominent among the Irish clans.

The earliest recorded reference to the Phelan surname can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a 17th-century manuscript that chronicles the history of Ireland. The annals mention a Gilla Phadraig Ó Faoláin, a notable figure from the Uí Faoláin sept, who lived in the 12th century.

In the 16th century, during the Tudor conquest of Ireland, the Phelan family held significant lands in County Laois. One notable member was Patrick Phelan, born in 1550, who was a leader of the Clan Phelan and a fierce opponent of the English forces during the Desmond Rebellions.

The Phelan name is also associated with the town of Portlaoighise (now known as Portlaoise), which was originally called "Port Laoighis Ui Fhaolain" or "the port of Laoighis of the O'Phelans". This suggests that the Phelan clan had a strong presence in the area.

Another notable figure was John Phelan (1619-1690), a Catholic priest and writer who was born in County Kilkenny. He is known for his work "The Remonstrance of the Roman Catholics of Ireland", which advocated for the rights of Catholics in Ireland.

In the 18th century, a prominent member of the Phelan family was James Phelan (1720-1795), a landowner and politician from County Laois. He served as a Member of the Irish Parliament for the constituency of Portarlington.

In the 19th century, John Phelan (1822-1892) was a prominent figure in the Irish nationalist movement. He was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and participated in the Fenian Rising of 1867, which aimed to establish an independent Irish republic.

The Phelan surname has also been found in various other spellings throughout history, such as O'Faolain, O'Faelan, and Phealan, reflecting the evolution of the name over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Phelan

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

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

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

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