Cullen (surname)

Cullen is an Irish surname. It is an Anglicised form of Gaelic Ó Cuileáin "descendant of Cuileán", a name meaning "wolfhound whelp", "young hound". It is also considered by some to mean the "handsome one". The Uí Cuileáin of County Tyrone were erenaghs of Clogher. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Cullanes were one of the chiefly families of the Uí Fidgenti who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.

Cullen is also found as a surname in Scotland and England; an example being the Cullen baronets.