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    The surname Whelan

    An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 11,363 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈwiː.lən/ 2 syllables Soundex W450

    Whelan: #3,181 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Whelan #3,181, 11,363 people Whelan: #3,181 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Whelan #3,181, 11,363 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Whelan is more common than 98% of them.

    Origin

    Irish origin

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

    Whelan is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

    One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 11,363 people named Whelan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 27,171 Americans. That is up 2.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 11,127.

    #3,181
    rank among US surnames
    11,363
    people in 2010
    3.9
    per 100,000 Americans
    +2.1%
    change since 2000 (was #2,976)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #3,173Roush11,38627,116
    #3,174Zamudio11,38427,121
    #3,175Mancini11,38227,126
    #3,176Withers11,38127,128
    #3,177Sisson11,38027,131
    #3,178Pepper11,37427,145
    #3,179Choate11,37227,150

    Who is named Whelan

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    95% of people named Whelan identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.2% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 95%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
    • Two or more races 1.2%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Whelans

    10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Nicky Whelan
      Australian actress and model, born 1981
    • Arleen Whelan
      American actress (1914–1993)
    • Jill Whelan
      American actress and singer, born 1966
    • James Whelan
      Australian bicycle racer, born 1996
    • Paul Whelan
      American detained in Russia, born 1970
    • Julia Whelan
      American actress and author, born 1984
    • 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)

    Notable Whelans come mostly from the United States (7), Australia (2) and Canada (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    Surnames that sound like Whelan

    Whelan has the Soundex code W450, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W450.

    Other Irish surnames

    All 880 Irish surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Whelan come from?
    Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Faoláin (“descendant of Faolán”), a hypocoristic form of faol (“wolf”). Doublet of Phelan.
    How common is the surname Whelan?
    11,363 people in the United States had the surname Whelan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 27,171 Americans. It ranked 3,181st of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Whelan?
    In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Whelan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
    Who is the most famous person named Whelan?
    Nicky Whelan, Australian actress and model, followed by Arleen Whelan.
    Where is the surname Whelan most common?
    Wikidata records people named Whelan in the United States, Australia and Canada.
    How do you pronounce Whelan?
    Whelan is /ˈwiː.lən/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Whelan?
    Whelan is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Whelan getting more or less common?
    More common. 11,127 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 11,363 in 2010, up 2.1%.
    What are other spellings of Whelan?
    Whalen, Wheelan and Wheeland.