Cullen is an Irish surname.
It is an Anglicised form of Gaelic Ó Cuileáin 'descendant of Cuileán', a name meaning 'wolfhound whelp', 'young hound'.
[3] The Uí Cuileáin of County Tyrone were erenaghs of Clogher.
[4] According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Cullanes were one of the chiefly families of the Uí Fidgenti who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.
[5] Cullen is also found as a surname in Scotland and England; an example being the Cullen baronets.