Cullen is a boy name with a modern feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Cullen means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Cullen across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Cullen has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Cullen is a boy name of Irish (Gaelic) origin meaning “holly, or handsome”. An anglicized Irish surname from cuileann meaning holly.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 16,703 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 269 births |
| Scotland since 1974 | 91 births |
| Ireland since 1964 | 118 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Cullen per year, United States (1880 to 2025). United States peaked in 2010 (685/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 2012 (20/yr) · Scotland peaked in 2011 (12/yr) · Ireland peaked in 2014 (11/yr).
Cullen has been a fairly common baby name in the United States. It was most common in 2010, when it ranked #865 nationally (given to 713 babies that year).
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