4,312 Global Millen Family Members

Millen Family History

This rare and interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon and Scottish origin, and has two possible sources. Firstly, it is a variant of McMillan, which is an Anglicization of the Gaelic "MacMaolain", a patronymic from the byname "maolan", which is itself a diminutive of "maol", meaning bald, tonsured. The name normally referred to a wearer of the tonsure, and in a transferred sense, to a devotee of a particular saint. Secondly, it is a variant of Mill, which is either from a topographical name for someone who lived near a mill, or an occupational name for a worker at a mill, and, indeed, for the miller himself.