How common is the surname Mearns?

457 people in the United States had the surname Mearns in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 675,592 Americans. It ranked 46,568th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Mearns?

In the 2010 Census, 97% of people named Mearns identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Mearns?

Edgar Alexander Mearns, American ornithologist and field naturalist (1856-1916).

Where is the surname Mearns most common?

Wikidata records people named Mearns in the United States.

Is the surname Mearns getting more or less common?

Less common. 548 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 457 in 2010, down 17%.

The surname Mearns

A Scottish Gaelic occupational surname, carried by 457 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex M652

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Mearns is more common than 71.3% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

Scottish habitational surname for someone coming from The Mearns, an alternative name for Kincardineshire, which is named as An Mhaoirne in Scottish Gaelic, from maor (“bailiff, steward, beadle”). According to Taylor (2006), perhaps ultimately from Pictish (cf. Welsh maeroni (“the office or district of a steward”).

Mearns is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

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 457 people named Mearns in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 675,592 Americans. That is down 17% since 2000, when the Census counted 548.

#46,568

rank among US surnames

457

people in 2010

0.1

per 100,000 Americans

-16.6%

change since 2000 (was #38,035)

Who is named Mearns

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

97% of people named Mearns identified as white (not Hispanic), 1.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 97%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.8%

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Mearnss

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Edgar Alexander Mearns
American ornithologist and field naturalist (1856-1916)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Mearns

Mearns has the Soundex code M652, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M652.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Mearns come from?: Scottish habitational surname for someone coming from The Mearns, an alternative name for Kincardineshire, which is named as An Mhaoirne in Scottish Gaelic, from maor (“bailiff, steward, beadle”). According to Taylor (2006), perhaps ultimately from Pictish (cf. Welsh maeroni (“the office or…
How common is the surname Mearns?: 457 people in the United States had the surname Mearns in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 675,592 Americans. It ranked 46,568th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Mearns?: In the 2010 Census, 97% of people named Mearns identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Mearns?: Edgar Alexander Mearns, American ornithologist and field naturalist (1856-1916).
Where is the surname Mearns most common?: Wikidata records people named Mearns in the United States.
What type of surname is Mearns?: Mearns is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Mearns getting more or less common?: Less common. 548 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 457 in 2010, down 17%.