How common is the surname McWhirter?

2,846 people in the United States had the surname McWhirter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 108,484 Americans. It ranked 11,134th of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname McWhirter getting more or less common?

More common. 2,797 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,846 in 2010, up 1.8%.

The surname McWhirter

A Scottish Gaelic patronymic surname, carried by 2,846 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex M263

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McWhirter is more common than 93.1% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

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

McWhirter is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 2,846 people named McWhirter in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 108,484 Americans. That is up 1.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,797.

#11,134

rank among US surnames

2,846

people in 2010

1.0

per 100,000 Americans

+1.8%

change since 2000 (was #10,524)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#11,127	Depina	2,849	108,370
#11,131	Arnone	2,848	108,408
#11,132	Rieck	2,847	108,446
#11,134	McWhirter	2,846	108,484
#11,135	Pernell	2,845	108,522
#11,138	Henrich	2,843	108,599
#11,142	Getty	2,842	108,637

Who is named McWhirter

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

92% of people named McWhirter identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.3%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Macwhirter

Surnames that sound like McWhirter

McWhirter has the Soundex code M263, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M263.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname McWhirter come from?: Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac an Chruiteir (“son of the harpist”), from cruitear (“harpist, fiddler”).
How common is the surname McWhirter?: 2,846 people in the United States had the surname McWhirter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 108,484 Americans. It ranked 11,134th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname McWhirter?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named McWhirter identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
What type of surname is McWhirter?: McWhirter is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname McWhirter getting more or less common?: More common. 2,797 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,846 in 2010, up 1.8%.
What are other spellings of McWhirter?: Macwhirter.