English
The surname 'Mullin' is of English origin. It is a variant of the name 'Mullins', derived from the topographic name for someone who lived by a Mill, or occupational name for a Miller, derived from the Anglo Norman French word 'mi(u)lin, and 'mulin' meaning mill. In Ireland it was an Anglicised form of Gaelic as 'O Maolain' a 'descendant of 'Maolan', a byname meaning 'Tonsured One', 'Devotee' (from the word 'maol' meaning bald). Public and Civil registry archive's confirm that the surname 'Mullin' and or it's variant's, date as far back as the eighteenth century were a '(no first name) Mullin', was buried at St Thomas the Apostle chapel, in the city of London, England, recorded in 1722. Historical archive's have been unable to definitely determine the exact period of settlement in North America but It is believed that the forefather's of this surname were part of the exodus of migrants that followed the Treaty of Peace signed in Paris in 1763, when great Britain obtained ownership of the whole of North America east of the Missisipi River excepting New Orleans. The chief reasons causing working class people to emigrate were, poor crop yields, high unemployment, and the misconception that America was a land of golden opportunity. It is has been estimated that after 1769 some 20,000 persons a year migrated to the Americas from the British Isles. Today, 'Mullin' is the 'One thousand six hundredth' most common surname in North America.