How common is the surname Birney?

1,463 people in the United States had the surname Birney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 211,036 Americans. It ranked 18,751st of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Birney?

In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Birney identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Birney?

James G. Birney, American politician and Kentucky native (1792-1857), followed by David Birney.

Where is the surname Birney most common?

Wikidata records people named Birney in the United States.

Is the surname Birney getting more or less common?

More common. 1,372 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,463 in 2010, up 6.6%.

The surname Birney

A Scottish Gaelic place surname, carried by 1,463 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex B650

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Birney is more common than 88.4% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

Scottish habitational surname from a place in Morayshire, probably from Scottish Gaelic braonach (“misty, wet, damp”).

Birney is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,463 people named Birney in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 211,036 Americans. That is up 6.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,372.

#18,751

rank among US surnames

1,463

people in 2010

0.5

per 100,000 Americans

+6.6%

change since 2000 (was #18,551)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#18,747	Rusher	1,464	210,892
#18,751	Jansson	1,463	211,036
#18,757	Wilker	1,462	211,180

Who is named Birney

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

93% of people named Birney identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.8% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 93%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.7%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Birneys

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

James G. Birney
American politician and Kentucky native (1792-1857)
David Birney
American actor and director (1939–2022)
Gus Birney
American actress, born 1999

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Birnie

Surnames that sound like Birney

Birney has the Soundex code B650, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B650.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Birney come from?: Scottish habitational surname from a place in Morayshire, probably from Scottish Gaelic braonach (“misty, wet, damp”).
How common is the surname Birney?: 1,463 people in the United States had the surname Birney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 211,036 Americans. It ranked 18,751st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Birney?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Birney identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Birney?: James G. Birney, American politician and Kentucky native (1792-1857), followed by David Birney.
Where is the surname Birney most common?: Wikidata records people named Birney in the United States.
What type of surname is Birney?: Birney is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Birney getting more or less common?: More common. 1,372 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,463 in 2010, up 6.6%.
What are other spellings of Birney?: Birnie.