# McNamara (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcnamara/  
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) | 26,534 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,329 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 11,636 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.5% (25,896 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /mæknəˈmærə/, 4 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Macnamara |

## Etymology

From Irish Mac Conmara.

## Who carries it

Share of people named McNamara 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) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McNamara in the United States and Australia.

## People named McNamara

- Robert McNamara, American businessman and Secretary of Defense (1916-2009)
- Katherine McNamara, American actress (born 1995)
- Maggie McNamara, American actress (1928-1978)
- William McNamara, American film actor
- Peter McNamara, Australian tennis player (1955-2019)
- Julianne McNamara, American artistic gymnast and actress (born 1965)
- Sean McNamara, American film director
- Brian McNamara, American actor
- Tony McNamara, Australian screenwriter and film director (born 1967)
- Reggie McNamara, Australian racing cyclist (1888-1971)
- Michelle McNamara, American writer (1970-2016)
- Patrick V. McNamara, American politician (1894-1966)

and 3 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

McNamee, McMahon, McManus, McKinnon, McMahan, McMinn, MacKinnon, McCammon, Mossman, McMann, McMenamin, McAninch.

## 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.