How common is the surname Moriarty?

10,005 people in the United States had the surname Moriarty in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 30,859 Americans. It ranked 3,564th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Moriarty?

In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Moriarty identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Moriarty?

Erin Moriarty, American actress, followed by Cathy Moriarty.

Where is the surname Moriarty most common?

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

How do you pronounce Moriarty?

Moriarty is /ˈmɔːɹiɑː(ɹ)ti/, 4 syllables.

Is the surname Moriarty getting more or less common?

More common. 9,661 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 10,005 in 2010, up 3.6%.

The surname Moriarty

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 10,005 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈmɔːɹiɑː(ɹ)ti/ 4 syllables Soundex M663

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Moriarty is more common than 97.8% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

From Irish Ó Muircheartaigh (“descendant of Muircheartach”), a name from muir (“sea”) + ceardaí (“craftsman”).

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

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 10,005 people named Moriarty in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 30,859 Americans. That is up 3.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 9,661.

#3,564

rank among US surnames

10,005

people in 2010

3.4

per 100,000 Americans

+3.6%

change since 2000 (was #3,389)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,555	Faber	10,039	30,755
#3,556	Layman	10,038	30,758
#3,557	Calvillo	10,032	30,776
#3,558	Sanborn	10,025	30,798
#3,559	Harter	10,020	30,813
#3,560	Tuck	10,018	30,819
#3,561	Mauldin	10,011	30,841

Who is named Moriarty

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

96% of people named Moriarty identified as white (not Hispanic), 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.1% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 96%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.9%
Two or more races 1.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Moriartys

7 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Erin Moriarty
American actress, born 1994
Cathy Moriarty
Actress, born 1960
Michael Moriarty
American-Canadian actor and musician (b. 1941)
Liane Moriarty
Australian author, born 1966
Brian Moriarty
American video game developer, born 1956
James Moriarty
Australian track cyclist, born 2001
Jaclyn Moriarty
Australian writer, born 1968

Notable Moriartys come mostly from the United States (4) and Australia (3).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Moriarty

Moriarity

Moriarty has the Soundex code M663, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M663.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Moriarty come from?: From Irish Ó Muircheartaigh (“descendant of Muircheartach”), a name from muir (“sea”) + ceardaí (“craftsman”).
How common is the surname Moriarty?: 10,005 people in the United States had the surname Moriarty in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 30,859 Americans. It ranked 3,564th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Moriarty?: In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Moriarty identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Moriarty?: Erin Moriarty, American actress, followed by Cathy Moriarty.
Where is the surname Moriarty most common?: Wikidata records people named Moriarty in the United States and Australia.
How do you pronounce Moriarty?: Moriarty is /ˈmɔːɹiɑː(ɹ)ti/, 4 syllables.
What type of surname is Moriarty?: Moriarty is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Moriarty getting more or less common?: More common. 9,661 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 10,005 in 2010, up 3.6%.