# McWhirter (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcwhirter/  
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 Scottish Gaelic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,846 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,134 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 108,484 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.8% (2,797 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Macwhirter |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac an Chruiteir (“son of the harpist”), from cruitear (“harpist, fiddler”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named McWhirter 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) | 92% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Similar surnames

McWhorter, McCarter, McGirt, McCarthy, McCarty, McGrath, McCord, McCartney, McArthur, McCurdy, Maggard, McArdle.

## 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.