How common is the surname MacArthur?

4,006 people in the United States had the surname MacArthur in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 77,071 Americans. It ranked 8,274th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named MacArthur?

John F. MacArthur, American Baptist pastor and theologian (1939–2025), followed by Charles MacArthur.

Where is the surname MacArthur most common?

Wikidata records people named MacArthur in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

How do you pronounce MacArthur?

MacArthur is /məˈkɑː(ɹ)θə(ɹ)/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname MacArthur getting more or less common?

More common. 3,874 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,006 in 2010, up 3.4%.

The surname MacArthur

A Scottish Gaelic surname, carried by 4,006 people in the United States.

Pronounced /məˈkɑː(ɹ)θə(ɹ)/ 3 syllables Soundex M263

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). MacArthur is more common than 94.9% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

See McArthur.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 4,006 people named MacArthur in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 77,071 Americans. That is up 3.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,874.

#8,274

rank among US surnames

4,006

people in 2010

1.4

per 100,000 Americans

+3.4%

change since 2000 (was #7,923)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#8,266	Winans	4,010	76,994
#8,271	Duffield	4,009	77,013
#8,272	Stuck	4,008	77,032
#8,274	Hinojos	4,006	77,071
#8,277	Beadle	4,005	77,090
#8,280	Yusuf	4,003	77,129
#8,281	Wiser	4,002	77,148

Who is named MacArthur

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

91% of people named MacArthur identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous MacArthurs

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

John F. MacArthur
American Baptist pastor and theologian (1939–2025)
Charles MacArthur
American playwright and screenwriter (1895-1956)
Hayes MacArthur
American stand-up comedian, actor and writer, born 1977
Tom MacArthur
American politician, born 1960
Scott MacArthur
American actor and writer, born 1979
John Macarthur
British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer in Australia (1767-1

Notable MacArthurs come mostly from the United States (5) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like MacArthur

McArthur

MacArthur has the Soundex code M263, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M263.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname MacArthur come from?: See McArthur.
How common is the surname MacArthur?: 4,006 people in the United States had the surname MacArthur in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 77,071 Americans. It ranked 8,274th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname MacArthur?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named MacArthur identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named MacArthur?: John F. MacArthur, American Baptist pastor and theologian (1939–2025), followed by Charles MacArthur.
Where is the surname MacArthur most common?: Wikidata records people named MacArthur in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
How do you pronounce MacArthur?: MacArthur is /məˈkɑː(ɹ)θə(ɹ)/, 3 syllables.
Is the surname MacArthur getting more or less common?: More common. 3,874 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,006 in 2010, up 3.4%.