Where does the surname Buchanan come from?

Buchanan is Scottish Gaelic in origin.

How common is the surname Buchanan?

66,648 people in the United States had the surname Buchanan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,632 Americans. It ranked 503rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Buchanan?

James M. Buchanan, American economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics (1919–2013), followed by Pat Buchanan.

Where is the surname Buchanan most common?

Wikidata records people named Buchanan in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

How do you pronounce Buchanan?

Buchanan is /bjuˈkænən/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Buchanan getting more or less common?

More common. 63,825 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 66,648 in 2010, up 4.4%.

Is Buchanan also a first name?

Yes. Buchanan is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Buchanan

A Scottish Gaelic place surname, carried by 66,648 people in the United States.

Pronounced /bjuˈkænən/ 3 syllables Soundex B255 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Buchanan is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

A habitational surname from Scottish Gaelic from Scotland.

Buchanan 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 66,648 people named Buchanan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 4,632 Americans. That is up 4.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 63,825.

#503

rank among US surnames

66,648

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+4.4%

change since 2000 (was #471)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#494	Strickland	67,769	4,556
#495	Norman	67,704	4,560
#496	Person	67,411	4,580
#497	Colon	67,338	4,585
#498	Parsons	67,310	4,587
#499	Frank	67,304	4,587
#500	Harrington	66,959	4,611

Who is named Buchanan

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

77% of people named Buchanan identified as white (not Hispanic), 17% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 77%
Black (not Hispanic) 17%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 2.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Buchanans

19 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

James M. Buchanan
American economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics (1919–2013)
Pat Buchanan
American politician and commentator, born 1938
Tanner Buchanan
American actor, born 1998
Roy Buchanan
American blues musician (1939–1988)
Edgar Buchanan
American actor (1903–1979)
Sharon Buchanan
Australian field hockey player, born 1963
Jack Buchanan
British actor, singer, director and producer (1891-1957)
Barry Buchanan
American professional wrestler, born 1968
Lachlan Buchanan
Australian actor, born 1987
Glenn Buchanan
Australian swimmer, Olympic bronze medallist, born 1962
Caroline Buchanan
Australian racing cyclist, born 1990
James P. Buchanan
American politician (1867-1937)

Notable Buchanans come mostly from the United States (13), Australia (4) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Buchannon
Buchanon

Surnames that sound like Buchanan

Buchanan has the Soundex code B255, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B255.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Buchanan come from?: Buchanan is Scottish Gaelic in origin.
How common is the surname Buchanan?: 66,648 people in the United States had the surname Buchanan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,632 Americans. It ranked 503rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Buchanan?: In the 2010 Census, 77% of people named Buchanan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 17% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Buchanan?: James M. Buchanan, American economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics (1919–2013), followed by Pat Buchanan.
Where is the surname Buchanan most common?: Wikidata records people named Buchanan in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
How do you pronounce Buchanan?: Buchanan is /bjuˈkænən/, 3 syllables.
What type of surname is Buchanan?: Buchanan is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Buchanan getting more or less common?: More common. 63,825 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 66,648 in 2010, up 4.4%.
What are other spellings of Buchanan?: Buchannon and Buchanon.
Is Buchanan also a first name?: Yes. Buchanan is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.