Phelan - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Faoláin
Meaning: “wolf”
Traditional stronghold: Kilkenny, Waterford
Whelan is the same name.
Pronunciation: FEE-lan or FAY-lan; Irish Ó Faoláin: oh FWAY-lawn
History of the Phelan name
Ó Faoláin derives from faol, 'wolf', through the personal name Faolán ('little wolf'), borne by several early Irish saints. The sept were princes of the Déise of Waterford before the Anglo-Norman invasion, ruling from the Suir valley, and after their displacement the name spread through Waterford, Kilkenny, Laois and Tipperary. Phelan and Whelan are simply two anglicisations of the same name, with Phelan favoured in Waterford and Kilkenny and Whelan further north and east; between them they rank among Ireland's forty most common surnames. Phelans were prominent in the American diaspora, supplying San Francisco with a banking dynasty and New York with pioneers of billiards.
Variants: Whelan · Felan · Fylan
Famous bearers of the name
- Paddy Phelan - Kilkenny hurler of the 1930s named on the GAA Hurling Team of the Century.
- James D. Phelan - Mayor of San Francisco and United States Senator, son of a famine-era Irish emigrant.
- Michael Phelan - Irish-born 'father of American billiards' and its first great champion and promoter.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Walsh · Brennan · Power · Whelan · Fitzpatrick · Tobin · McGrath · Purcell