The Irish surname of Gilligan comes from the Gaelic ‘macgiollagain’ which refers to the son or a lad training to be knight. The spelling variations for Gilligan include Giligan, Gillegan and Gilegan. In England, most Gilligan families lived in the northern regions, especially in Yorkshire and Lancashire counties. The Scottish counties of Angus and Lanarkshire have high Gilligan populations. Many Gilligan families left Ireland in the early 1800s to come to America, most settling in New York. Decades later Gilligan families are primarily in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey. Famous: John Joseph Gilligan Jr. (a U. S. Marine awarded a Silver Star for which the ship USS Gilligan was named), James Gilligan (author), Jimmy Gilligan (footballer from England), Andrew Gilligan (an English journalist) and Ryan Gilligan (an English footballer).