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    The surname McCarthy

    An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 82,950 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /məˈkɑɹ.θi/ 3 syllables Soundex M263

    McCarthy: #384 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon McCarthy #384, 82,950 people McCarthy: #384 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott McCarthy #384, 82,950 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McCarthy is more common than 99.8% of them.

    Origin

    Irish origin

    Borrowed from Irish Mac Carthaigh (literally “son of Carthach”).

    McCarthy 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 82,950 people named McCarthy in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 3,722 Americans. That is up 2.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 81,035.

    #384
    rank among US surnames
    82,950
    people in 2010
    28
    per 100,000 Americans
    +2.4%
    change since 2000 (was #348)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #375Warner83,7813,685
    #376Cabrera83,6213,692
    #377McKinney83,6163,692
    #378Mann83,5103,697
    #379Zimmerman83,2653,708
    #380Dawson83,1823,712
    #381Lara83,0673,717

    Who is named McCarthy

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

    92% of people named McCarthy identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.3% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 92%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 3.3%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
    • Two or more races 1.3%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    • Maccarthy
    • Macarthy
    • Carthy

    Surnames that sound like McCarthy

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

    Other Irish surnames

    All 880 Irish surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname McCarthy come from?
    Borrowed from Irish Mac Carthaigh (literally “son of Carthach”).
    How common is the surname McCarthy?
    82,950 people in the United States had the surname McCarthy in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,722 Americans. It ranked 384th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname McCarthy?
    In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named McCarthy identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.3% as Black (not Hispanic).
    How do you pronounce McCarthy?
    McCarthy is /məˈkɑɹ.θi/, 3 syllables.
    What type of surname is McCarthy?
    McCarthy is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname McCarthy getting more or less common?
    More common. 81,035 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 82,950 in 2010, up 2.4%.
    What are other spellings of McCarthy?
    Maccarthy, Macarthy and Carthy.