# McFerrin (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcferrin/  
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 | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,389 |
| US rank (2010) | 19,456 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 222,279 people |
| Change since 2000 | -2.3% (1,421 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Irish Mac Fearáin (“son of Fearán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of fear (“man”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named McFerrin 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) | 80% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 16% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.0% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McFerrin in the United States.

## People named McFerrin

- Bobby McFerrin, American jazz vocalist and composer (born 1950)

## Similar surnames

McFerren, McFarlin, McGivern, McBrien, McBride, McFarland, McPherson, McGovern, McFarlane, McCaffrey, McKeever, Mashburn.

## 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.