# Finnegan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/finnegan/  
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) | 11,695 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,068 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 26,400 people |
| Change since 2000 | +8.9% (10,740 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Finigan, Finnigan |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Ó Fionnagáin (“descendant of Fionnagán”). Fionnagán is a given name that descends from Old Irish Finnacán, which is typically anglicised as Finnegan itself.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Finnegan 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) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.1% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Finnegan in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Finnegan

- George Finnegan, boxer (1881-1913)
- Christian Finnegan, American comedian
- Chris Finnegan, British boxer (1944–2009)
- John Finnegan, American actor (1926-2012)
- William Finnegan, American journalist

## Similar surnames

Finegan, Finnigan, Finucane, Fincham, Fangman.

## 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.