My Family History

History of the surnames Culligan and Huggins

Alice Culligan-Huggins, MYP3

Culligan

Culligan• The surname Culligan originated from Ireland. It was

originally from County Derry in Northern Ireland where they had held a family seat from ancient times.

• There are many different variations of the name Culligan including: Colligan, Quilligan, O’Quilligan, O’Culligan, O’Colligan, Culigan, and Colgan.

• The original Gaelic form of the name Culigan is O’Cuileagain. The above names are all anglicized versions of O’Cuileagain.

The motto of the Culligan family is Virtus probate florescit. Which when translated from Latin means Tried virtue

flourishes.

Famous people with the name Culligan

• Emmett Culligan, founder of the water purification company Culligan

• John W. Culligan, president and CEO of Whitehall laboratories: the producers of Advil.

• Tom Culligan, Canadian entrepreneur, co-founder of The Second Cup

County Derry

County Derry is one of the six counties in Northern Ireland.

The county motto is ‘Auxilium A Domino’ which translated from Latin means ‘Help comes from

the lord.’

Huggins

Huggins

• The surname Huggins originated from Scotland. • The name was first found in Fife, where they held a

family seat from ancient times. Some historians believe that they were there even before the Norman conquest.

• Spelling variations of the name Huggins include Huggan, Hugan, Huckings, Huckins and Huggin.

Huggins coat of arms:Fleur de lis: The fleur de lis is a French symbol of a lily. This suggests that

some of the family was French.Cross: The cross shows that the family is Scottish, as it appears on the flag.

(St Andrews cross)

Fife, Scotland

Fife is situated in the east of Scotland. This is where the name Huggins originates from.

Famous people with the name Huggins

• Charles Brenton Huggins: winner of the Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1996.

• Sir William Huggins: Astronomer, the first to distinguish between nebulas and galaxies.

• Miller Huggins: American baseball player and manager. • Ted Huggins: photographer famous for documenting the building of

The Golden Gate Bridge.

One of the reasons for the fact that there are so many variations of the

names Culligan and Huggins is because scribes and officials used to

spell names as they were pronounced. Different accents and dialects resulted in many different

ways to spell one name.

Thank you!

Alice Culligan-Huggins, MYP3,

Humanities