# Flanagan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/flanagan/  
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) | 30,887 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,134 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 9,996 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.5% (29,563 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Flanagin, Flannagan, Flanigan, Flannigan |

## Etymology

From Irish Ó Flannagáin (“descendant of Flannagán”), a personal name from a double diminutive of flann (“blood red”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Flanagan 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) | 89% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 6.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Flanagan in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

## People named Flanagan

- Richard Flanagan, Australian writer and novelist
- Mike Flanagan, American filmmaker (born 1978)
- Tommy Flanagan, British actor (1965-)
- Tommy Flanagan, American jazz pianist (1930-2001)
- Shalane Flanagan, American distance runner
- Peggy Flanagan, American politician
- Maile Flanagan, American actress
- John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author (1944–2026)
- James Flanagan, American rower (1878-1937)
- Patrick Flanagan, American tug of war competitor
- Crista Flanagan, American actress
- Jeanne Flanagan, American rower

and 16 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Flanigan, Flannigan, Flannagan, Flinchum, Fullington, Flink, Flemister.

## 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.