# McCain (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mccain/  
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 | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 19,032 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,888 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 16,222 people |
| Change since 2000 | +6.1% (17,933 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /məˈkeɪn/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the Irish variant of McKean.

## Who carries it

Share of people named McCain 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) | 65% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 29% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McCain in the United States.

## People named McCain

- John McCain, American politician (1936–2018)
- Cindy McCain, American diplomat and businesswoman (born 1954)
- Frances Lee McCain, American actress
- Meghan McCain, American columnist, author, and television personality (born 1984)
- Jared McCain, American basketball player (born 2004)
- Edwin McCain, American musician
- Jerry McCain, American electric blues musician (1930–2012)

## Similar surnames

McCann, McCune, McCown, McGann, McCuen, McCane, McCoin, McQuain, McCone, McSwain, McGinn, McKean.

## 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.