# Whelan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/whelan/  
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) | 11,363 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,181 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 27,171 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.1% (11,127 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwiː.lən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Whalen, Wheelan, Wheeland |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Faoláin (“descendant of Faolán”), a hypocoristic form of faol (“wolf”). Doublet of Phelan.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Whelan 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) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Whelan in the United States, Australia and Canada.

## People named Whelan

- Nicky Whelan, Australian actress and model
- Arleen Whelan, American actress (1914–1993)
- Jill Whelan, American actress and singer
- James Whelan, Australian bicycle racer
- Paul Whelan, American detained in Russia
- Julia Whelan, American actress and author
- Robert Louis Whelan, American Catholic bishop (1912–2001)
- Anna Whelan Betts, American illustrator and art teacher (1875-1959)
- Richard Vincent Whelan, American Roman Catholic bishop (1809-1874)
- Miriam Seegar, American actress and interior decorator (1907-2011)

## Similar surnames

Whalen, William, Wallen, Wallin, Woolwine, Woolum, Willen.

## 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.