How common is the surname Carnahan?

7,424 people in the United States had the surname Carnahan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 41,587 Americans. It ranked 4,769th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Carnahan?

In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Carnahan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Carnahan?

Joe Carnahan, American actor, director and producer, followed by Jean Carnahan.

Where is the surname Carnahan most common?

Wikidata records people named Carnahan in the United States.

Is the surname Carnahan getting more or less common?

More common. 7,177 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,424 in 2010, up 3.4%.

The surname Carnahan

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 7,424 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex C655

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Carnahan is more common than 97.1% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

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

Carnahan is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 7,424 people named Carnahan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 41,587 Americans. That is up 3.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,177.

#4,769

rank among US surnames

7,424

people in 2010

2.5

per 100,000 Americans

+3.4%

change since 2000 (was #4,537)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,761	Stegall	7,439	41,504
#4,763	Wallen	7,436	41,520
#4,764	Beale	7,431	41,548
#4,765	Lindner	7,428	41,565
#4,766	Yager	7,427	41,571
#4,767	Kuo	7,426	41,576
#4,768	McDevitt	7,425	41,582

Who is named Carnahan

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

94% of people named Carnahan identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 94%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 1.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Carnahans

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Joe Carnahan
American actor, director and producer, born 1969
Jean Carnahan
American politician and writer (1933–2024)
Russ Carnahan
American politician, born 1958
Matthew Michael Carnahan
American screenwriter, born 2000
A. S. J. Carnahan
American politician (1897-1968)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Carnathan

Surnames that sound like Carnahan

Carnahan has the Soundex code C655, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C655.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Carnahan come from?: Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Cearnacháin (“descendant of Cearnachán”), a personal name from cearnach (“victorious”) + -án (“diminutive suffix”).
How common is the surname Carnahan?: 7,424 people in the United States had the surname Carnahan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 41,587 Americans. It ranked 4,769th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Carnahan?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Carnahan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Carnahan?: Joe Carnahan, American actor, director and producer, followed by Jean Carnahan.
Where is the surname Carnahan most common?: Wikidata records people named Carnahan in the United States.
What type of surname is Carnahan?: Carnahan is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Carnahan getting more or less common?: More common. 7,177 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,424 in 2010, up 3.4%.
What are other spellings of Carnahan?: Carnathan.