# Carnahan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/carnahan/  
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) | 7,424 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,769 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 41,587 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.4% (7,177 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Carnathan |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Cearnacháin (“descendant of Cearnachán”), a personal name from cearnach (“victorious”) + -án (“diminutive suffix”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Carnahan 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) | 94% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Carnahan in the United States.

## People named Carnahan

- Joe Carnahan, American actor, director and producer
- Jean Carnahan, American politician and writer (1933–2024)
- Russ Carnahan, American politician
- Matthew Michael Carnahan, American screenwriter
- A. S. J. Carnahan, American politician (1897-1968)

## Similar surnames

Carmona, Carman, Cronin, Carmen, Carmon, Cremeans, Crimmins, Cronan, Corman, Corning, Carmean, Cornman.

## 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.