Explore the Family Name Nelligan

The meaning of Nelligan

Irish (Kerry): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Niallagáin ‘descendant of Niallagán’, a pet form (double diminutive) of the personal name Niall (see Neil). Some characteristic forenames: Irish Brendan.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Nelligan in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Nelligan has maintained a steady popularity in the United States over the years. In 2000, it was ranked 21,295 in popularity and slightly increased to rank 21,288 in 2010, showing a minor growth of 0.03%. The count of individuals bearing this surname also grew from 1,147 in 2000 to 1,231 in 2010, marking a 7.32% increase. However, its proportion per 100,000 residents experienced a negligible decrease of -2.33%, going from 0.43 in 2000 to 0.42 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,295	#21,288	0.03%
Count	1,147	1,231	7.32%
Proportion per 100k	0.43	0.42	-2.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Nelligan

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Nelligan has shown interesting shifts between 2000 and 2010 according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. Predominantly, those identifying as White held the surname at 96.86% in 2000, which dipped slightly to 95.61% by 2010. Notably, the Hispanic ethnicity group saw a significant increase of 78.10%, growing from 1.05% in 2000 to 1.87% in 2010. The representation of those identifying with two or more ethnicities also rose by 16.19%, albeit on a smaller scale. Meanwhile, the percentage of American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals with this surname decreased by -6.56%. There were no recorded instances of this surname within the Asian/Pacific Islander or Black communities during either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.86%	95.61%	-1.29%
Hispanic	1.05%	1.87%	78.1%
Two or More Races	1.05%	1.22%	16.19%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.61%	0.57%	-6.56%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%