How common is the surname McElwain?

3,060 people in the United States had the surname McElwain in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 100,897 Americans. It ranked 10,487th of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname McElwain getting more or less common?

More common. 3,003 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,060 in 2010, up 1.9%.

The surname McElwain

An occupational surname, carried by 3,060 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex M245

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McElwain is more common than 93.5% of them.

Origin

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Gille Bheathain (“son of the servant of (Saint) Beathan”), a personal name representing a diminutive of beatha (“life”). Anglicized form of Irish Mac Giolla Bháin (“son of the white-haired lad”), for which compare Kilbane.

McElwain is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,060 people named McElwain in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 100,897 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,003.

#10,487

rank among US surnames

3,060

people in 2010

1.0

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #9,909)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#10,480	Putney	3,065	100,733
#10,484	Caylor	3,064	100,766
#10,486	Caffrey	3,062	100,831
#10,487	Arens	3,060	100,897
#10,491	Garth	3,059	100,930

Who is named McElwain

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

92% of people named McElwain identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
Two or more races 2.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like McElwain

McElwain has the Soundex code M245, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M245.

Questions

Where does the surname McElwain come from?: Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Gille Bheathain (“son of the servant of (Saint) Beathan”), a personal name representing a diminutive of beatha (“life”). Anglicized form of Irish Mac Giolla Bháin (“son of the white-haired lad”), for which compare Kilbane.
How common is the surname McElwain?: 3,060 people in the United States had the surname McElwain in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 100,897 Americans. It ranked 10,487th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname McElwain?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named McElwain identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
What type of surname is McElwain?: McElwain is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname McElwain getting more or less common?: More common. 3,003 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,060 in 2010, up 1.9%.