Whelan

English

Alternative forms

• Whalen, Wheelan, Wheeland

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Whelan (plural Whelans)

1. A surname from Irish.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Whelan is the 3181^st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 11363 individuals. Whelan is most common among White (95.07%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Whelan”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• Wahlen, Whalen