Pullen
A surname that likely began as a nickname or occupational name linked to poultry or a poulterer.
The #3,381 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,223 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained from Anglo-Norman and Old French words such as pullain / poulain, meaning a colt or foal, and by extension the young of animals; related forms were also used in Middle English for poultry or chicken. Some early writers took it as an occupational name for a poulterer, keeper, or seller of poultry. The underlying Latin root is pullus, meaning a young animal or chick.
History
Medieval records and later surname dictionaries show many spellings, including Pullan, Pullein, Pulleyn, Pullin, and Pulling. Because the word could be used either as a nickname or in an occupational sense, the surname may have arisen in more than one way in different families. It is especially well attested in English usage, with later spread through normal migration and anglicized spelling variation.
Origin
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Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century surname scholars glossed the name with the memorable idea of someone nicknamed for being a “chicken” or poultry man.
From the historical record
“PULLEN PULLAN PULLEIN(E PULLEYN(E PULLIN I meton. for a Poulterer”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)