How common is the surname Heffernan?

6,961 people in the United States had the surname Heffernan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 44,354 Americans. It ranked 5,043rd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Heffernan?

In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Heffernan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Heffernan?

Kevin Heffernan, American actor and comedian, followed by Dean Heffernan.

Where is the surname Heffernan most common?

Wikidata records people named Heffernan in the United States and Australia.

Is the surname Heffernan getting more or less common?

More common. 6,532 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,961 in 2010, up 6.6%.

The surname Heffernan

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 6,961 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex H165

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Heffernan is more common than 96.9% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

Anglicized form of Irish Ó hIfearnáin (“descendant of Ifearnán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of ifreannach (“demon”), from ifreann (“hell”).

Heffernan 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 6,961 people named Heffernan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 44,354 Americans. That is up 6.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 6,532.

#5,043

rank among US surnames

6,961

people in 2010

2.4

per 100,000 Americans

+6.6%

change since 2000 (was #4,940)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,036	Monteiro	6,965	44,328
#5,037	Jessup	6,964	44,335
#5,040	Fishman	6,962	44,347
#5,043	Heffernan	6,961	44,354
#5,045	Real	6,959	44,366

Who is named Heffernan

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

94% of people named Heffernan identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.5% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 94%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
Two or more races 1.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.0%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Heffernans

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Kevin Heffernan
American actor and comedian, born 1968
Dean Heffernan
Australian soccer player, born 1980
Virginia Heffernan
American writer, born 1969

Notable Heffernans come mostly from the United States (2) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Heffernan

Heffron

Heffernan has the Soundex code H165, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H165.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Heffernan come from?: Anglicized form of Irish Ó hIfearnáin (“descendant of Ifearnán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of ifreannach (“demon”), from ifreann (“hell”).
How common is the surname Heffernan?: 6,961 people in the United States had the surname Heffernan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 44,354 Americans. It ranked 5,043rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Heffernan?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Heffernan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Heffernan?: Kevin Heffernan, American actor and comedian, followed by Dean Heffernan.
Where is the surname Heffernan most common?: Wikidata records people named Heffernan in the United States and Australia.
What type of surname is Heffernan?: Heffernan is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Heffernan getting more or less common?: More common. 6,532 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,961 in 2010, up 6.6%.