# Ahern (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/ahern/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,221 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,322 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 37,556 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.2% (8,046 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Ahearn, Aherne |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Irish Ó hEachthighearna (“descendant of Eachthighearna”), a personal name composed by the elements each (“horse”) + tighearna (“master, lord”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Ahern in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 96% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.1% |
| Two or more races | 1.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Ahern in the United States and Ireland.

## People named Ahern

- Bertie Ahern, 11th Taoiseach of Ireland from 1997 to 2008
- Lassie Lou Ahern, American child actress (1920–2018)
- Peggy Ahern, actress (1917-2012)

## Similar surnames

Ahearn, Aaron, Arana, Arena, Arney, Aron, Arno, Arne, Arrona.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.