# Cullen (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/cullen/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 20,000 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,796 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 15,437 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.7% (19,665 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkʌlən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic cuilinn.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cullen in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 1.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.0% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Cullen in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Albania.

## People named Cullen

- Brett Cullen, American actor (born 1956)
- Tom Cullen, British actor
- Countee Cullen, American author (1903–1946)
- Matt Cullen, American ice hockey player
- Heidi Cullen, American climatologist
- Edward Peter Cullen, auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, titular Bishop of Paria in Proconsolare, Bishop of Allen
- Max Cullen, Australian actor
- Katharine Cullen, Australian actress
- Mark Cullen, American ice hockey player
- Dan Cullen, Australian cricketer
- Susan, Crown Princess of Albania, Albanian Royal (1941–2004)

## Similar surnames

Callen, Clune, Cullum, Culhane, Colon, Callahan, Cline, Calhoun, Colin, Clem, Callan, Collum.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.