# Milligan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/milligan/  
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) | 22,416 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,597 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,773 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.4% (21,887 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Millikan, Milliken, Millikin |

## Etymology

From Irish Ó Maolagáin (“descendant of Maolagán”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Milligan 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) | 81% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 12% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.0% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Milligan in Australia.

## People named Milligan

- Mark Milligan, Australian association football player

## Similar surnames

Mulligan, Milliken, Millican, Millikan, Millikin, Melson, Malcom, Malagon, Mullikin, Malkin, Mullican, Mulqueen.

## 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.