Pullen is an uncommon English surname with a purported Norman origin. "Pullen" is likely an occupational name, arising from the Old French poulain. There are several variants of "Pullen", including Pullin, Pullins, Pulleyn, Pullan and Pullein, the latter being the earliest recorded version (1166).
Apart from the English surname "Pullen", there is a very common surname "Pullan" in India.
The "Pullen" surname is shared by these notable people:
Andrew John Pullan (1963–2012), New Zealand mathematician
Cecil Pullan (1910-1970), Indian-born English cricket player
Cyril Pullin (1893-1973), English inventor, engineer and motorcycle race driver
Deborah Pullen (1963-2010), New Zealand female international football (soccer) player
Don Pullen (1941-1995), American jazz musician
Erica Pullins (b. 1983), American musician
Frank Pullen (1915-1992), English businessperson and racehorse owner
Hartley Pullan (1899–1968), World War I flying ace
Henry Pulleine (bef. 1850-1879), British Army administrator during the Anglo-Zulu War with an acting rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel
Jacob Pullen (b. 1989), American basketball player
James Henry Pullen (1835-1916), aka "Genius of Earlswood Asylum", British autistic savant
John Pullin (b. 1941), English rugby union player (retired)
Jorge Pullin (b. 1963), Argentine-American physics academic
Josiah Pullen (1631–1714), English vicar
Kent Pullen (1942-2003), American politician
Lloyd T. Pullen (1825-1908), American politician
Matilda Marian Pullan (1819–1862), British author
Melanie Pullen (b. 1975), American photographer
Melanie Clark Pullen (b. 1977), Irish actress, producer and writer
Penny Pullen, American politician
Peter Pullan (1857-1901), English cricket player
Richard Popplewell Pullan (1825-1888), English architect and archæologist
Robert Pullen (died c.1150), English theologian and official of the Roman Catholic Church
Sidney Pullen (1895-1950s), English football (soccer) player
Tessa Pullan (b. 1954), sculptor, equestrian artist
Tobias Pullen (1648–1713), Irish bishop
William Pullen (1813–1887), Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer
