Mullen Family History
Mullen Name Meaning
Irish: Anglicized form of the common and widespread Gaelic name Ó Maoláin ‘descendant of Maolán’, a byname meaning ‘tonsured one’, ‘devotee’ (from a diminutive of maol ‘bald’). English: topographic name for someone who lived by a mill, or a metonymic occupational name for a miller, from Anglo-Norman French mo(u)lin, mulin ‘mill’ (see Mill). In some instances it may be a variant of Millen, from Middle English mullelane. Dutch and Belgian (van Mullen): habitational name from Mullem in East Flanders, Mullem in West Flanders, or possibly Mollen in Brabant. Dutch (van (der) Mullen): variant of van der Molen (see Molen 4).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press