Van Word Detective:
The word first appeared in England in the summer of 1898 in newspaper articles about a gang of young street toughs who called themselves "the Hooligans," although apparently none of them was actually named Hooligan. Some authorities at the time maintained that "hooligan" was a mispronunciation of "Hooley's gang," but no one was ever able to trace a specific "Hooley," so that theory remains unverified. Another possible source of the name is a music hall song of the period featuring a rowdy Irish family called the Hooligans. Hooligan had also been used since at least the 1870s as a "funny name" by several authors, including Mark Twain.
van Word Origins:
Hooligan almost certainly derives from the name Houlihan or O hUallachain, but the specific person whom the term originally referred to has been lost to the ages. There are various explanations as to particular individuals. Often suggested is a Patrick Hooligan and the Hooley gang who (separately) terrorized a section of London in the 1890s.
An 1824 play (predating either of the above explanations) has a rough character named Hooligan. Since it was a practice of the theater to name characters after words that described their qualities, it is likely that the term existed at this early date.
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