# McMurtry (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcmurtry/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,606 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,984 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 118,475 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.5% (2,494 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Northern Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Muircheartaigh (“son of Muircheartach”), a personal name composed of the elements muir (“sea”) + ceartach (“ruler”). Compare McCurdy and Moriarty.

## Who carries it

Share of people named McMurtry 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) | 78% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 16% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McMurtry in the United States.

## People named McMurtry

- Larry McMurtry, American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter (1936-2021)
- James McMurtry, American rock and folk-rock/americana singer-songwriter and guitarist

## Similar surnames

McMurtrey, McMurtrie, McMurray, McMurry, McMorris, McMorrow, McMurphy, McNair, McHenry, Messner, McInerney, Meissner.

## 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.