Pelikan Family History

German, Croatian, and Slovenian; Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian (Pelikán): from Middle High German pellikān, Croatian and Slovenian pelikan, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian pelikán ‘pelican’ (from Late Latin pelicanus, Greek pelekan).

The pelican was regarded as a symbol of piety in Christian tradition: the female pelican was supposed, in medieval religious folklore, to feed her young with her own blood by plucking the feathers from her breast.

Consequently, the surname might be a nickname for a selfless person.

Alternatively, in some of these languages, this was a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a pelican.

Compare Pelican.