How common is the surname Colgan?

3,651 people in the United States had the surname Colgan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 84,565 Americans. It ranked 8,965th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Colgan?

In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Colgan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Is the surname Colgan getting more or less common?

More common. 3,518 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,651 in 2010, up 3.8%.

The surname Colgan

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 3,651 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex C425

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Colgan is more common than 94.5% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Colgáin (“descendant of Colgán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of colg (“thorn; sword”).

Colgan 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 3,651 people named Colgan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 84,565 Americans. That is up 3.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,518.

#8,965

rank among US surnames

3,651

people in 2010

1.2

per 100,000 Americans

+3.8%

change since 2000 (was #8,607)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#8,959	Mendonca	3,654	84,495
#8,962	Perlman	3,653	84,518
#8,964	Lafontaine	3,652	84,541
#8,965	Colgan	3,651	84,565
#8,967	Braddy	3,650	84,588
#8,968	Markus	3,649	84,611

Who is named Colgan

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

96% of people named Colgan identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 96%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Colligan

Surnames that sound like Colgan

Colgan has the Soundex code C425, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C425.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Colgan come from?: Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Colgáin (“descendant of Colgán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of colg (“thorn; sword”).
How common is the surname Colgan?: 3,651 people in the United States had the surname Colgan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 84,565 Americans. It ranked 8,965th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Colgan?: In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Colgan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
What type of surname is Colgan?: Colgan is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Colgan getting more or less common?: More common. 3,518 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,651 in 2010, up 3.8%.
What are other spellings of Colgan?: Colligan.