# Galligan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/galligan/  
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 | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,663 |
| US rank (2010) | 8,938 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 84,288 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.8% (3,462 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Gallahan |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Gealagáin (“descendant of Gealagán”), a personal name which derives from a double diminutive of geal (“bright, white”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Galligan 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) | 94% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Galligan in the United States.

## People named Galligan

- Zach Galligan, American actor

## Similar surnames

Gilligan, Gleason, Gilson, Glisson, Glassman, Gleeson, Glickman, Golson, Gholson, Gullickson, Glessner, Glosson.

## 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.