How common is the surname Kearney?

20,706 people in the United States had the surname Kearney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,911 Americans. It ranked 1,730th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Kearney?

Mat Kearney, American musician, followed by Denis Kearney.

Where is the surname Kearney most common?

Wikidata records people named Kearney in the United States.

Is the surname Kearney getting more or less common?

More common. 19,938 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 20,706 in 2010, up 3.9%.

Is Kearney also a first name?

Yes. Kearney is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Kearney

An Irish surname, carried by 20,706 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex K650

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kearney is more common than 98.9% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

Borrowed from Irish Ó Ceithearnaigh.

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 20,706 people named Kearney in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 14,911 Americans. That is up 3.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 19,938.

#1,730

rank among US surnames

20,706

people in 2010

7.0

per 100,000 Americans

+3.9%

change since 2000 (was #1,647)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,721	Finn	20,852	14,807
#1,722	Venegas	20,851	14,807
#1,723	McNeal	20,778	14,859
#1,724	Metzger	20,771	14,864
#1,725	Coulter	20,757	14,874
#1,726	Beal	20,752	14,878
#1,727	Crump	20,737	14,889

Who is named Kearney

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

75% of people named Kearney identified as white (not Hispanic), 20% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 75%
Black (not Hispanic) 20%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kearneys

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Mat Kearney
American musician, born 1978
Denis Kearney
19th-century American demagogue, 1847–1907
Patrick Kearney
American serial killer, born 1939
Thomas Henry Kearney
American botanist (1874-1956)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Kearney

Kearney has the Soundex code K650, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K650.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Kearney come from?: Borrowed from Irish Ó Ceithearnaigh.
How common is the surname Kearney?: 20,706 people in the United States had the surname Kearney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,911 Americans. It ranked 1,730th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kearney?: In the 2010 Census, 75% of people named Kearney identified as white (not Hispanic), and 20% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kearney?: Mat Kearney, American musician, followed by Denis Kearney.
Where is the surname Kearney most common?: Wikidata records people named Kearney in the United States.
Is the surname Kearney getting more or less common?: More common. 19,938 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 20,706 in 2010, up 3.9%.
Is Kearney also a first name?: Yes. Kearney is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.