How common is the surname Kavanagh?

5,301 people in the United States had the surname Kavanagh in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 58,243 Americans. It ranked 6,414th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Kavanagh?

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

Who is the most famous person named Kavanagh?

Ken Kavanagh, Australian motorcycle racer (1923-2019), followed by Brad Kavanagh.

Where is the surname Kavanagh most common?

Wikidata records people named Kavanagh in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Is the surname Kavanagh getting more or less common?

More common. 4,969 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,301 in 2010, up 6.7%.

What are other spellings of Kavanagh?

Cavanah, Cavanaugh and Kavanaugh.

The surname Kavanagh

An Irish surname, carried by 5,301 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex K152

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kavanagh is more common than 96% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

Borrowed from Irish Caomhánach.

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 5,301 people named Kavanagh in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 58,243 Americans. That is up 6.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,969.

#6,414

rank among US surnames

5,301

people in 2010

1.8

per 100,000 Americans

+6.7%

change since 2000 (was #6,312)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#6,405	Fick	5,311	58,133
#6,407	Dandrea	5,310	58,144
#6,409	Muncy	5,308	58,166
#6,410	Schütz	5,307	58,177
#6,411	Reavis	5,305	58,199
#6,412	Moskowitz	5,304	58,210
#6,413	Hinman	5,303	58,221

Who is named Kavanagh

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

94% of people named Kavanagh identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.9% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 94%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.9%
Two or more races 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kavanaghs

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ken Kavanagh
Australian motorcycle racer (1923-2019)
Brad Kavanagh
British actor, born 1992
Chris Kavanagh
Association football referee, born 1985

Notable Kavanaghs come mostly from the United Kingdom (2) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Kavanagh

Kavanaugh

Kavanagh has the Soundex code K152, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K152.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Kavanagh come from?: Borrowed from Irish Caomhánach.
How common is the surname Kavanagh?: 5,301 people in the United States had the surname Kavanagh in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 58,243 Americans. It ranked 6,414th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kavanagh?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Kavanagh identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Kavanagh?: Ken Kavanagh, Australian motorcycle racer (1923-2019), followed by Brad Kavanagh.
Where is the surname Kavanagh most common?: Wikidata records people named Kavanagh in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Is the surname Kavanagh getting more or less common?: More common. 4,969 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,301 in 2010, up 6.7%.
What are other spellings of Kavanagh?: Cavanah, Cavanaugh and Kavanaugh.