Skip to content
Name Lineage

    The surname Moynihan

    An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 4,352 people in the United States.

    3 syllables Soundex M550

    Moynihan: #7,627 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Moynihan #7,627, 4,352 people Moynihan: #7,627 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Moynihan #7,627, 4,352 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Moynihan is more common than 95.3% of them.

    Origin

    Irish origin

    Anglicized form of Irish Ó Muimhneacháin (“descendant of Muimhneachán”), a diminutive of Muimhneach (“Munsterman”).

    Moynihan 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 4,352 people named Moynihan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 70,943 Americans. That is up 4.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,148.

    #7,627
    rank among US surnames
    4,352
    people in 2010
    1.5
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4.9%
    change since 2000 (was #7,411)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #7,618Snapp4,36070,813
    #7,619Alas4,35870,846
    #7,620Bottoms4,35770,862
    #7,621Jager4,35670,878
    #7,623Melville4,35570,894
    #7,624Burkey4,35470,911
    #7,625Poteet4,35370,927

    Who is named Moynihan

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

    96% of people named Moynihan identified as white (not Hispanic), 1.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.4% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 96%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.8%
    • Two or more races 1.4%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Moynihans

    2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Daniel Patrick Moynihan
      American politician (1927-2003)
    • Bobby Moynihan
      American actor (born 1977)

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    Surnames that sound like Moynihan

    Moynihan has the Soundex code M550, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M550.

    Other Irish surnames

    All 880 Irish surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Moynihan come from?
    Anglicized form of Irish Ó Muimhneacháin (“descendant of Muimhneachán”), a diminutive of Muimhneach (“Munsterman”).
    How common is the surname Moynihan?
    4,352 people in the United States had the surname Moynihan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 70,943 Americans. It ranked 7,627th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Moynihan?
    In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Moynihan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
    Who is the most famous person named Moynihan?
    Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American politician (1927-2003), followed by Bobby Moynihan.
    Where is the surname Moynihan most common?
    Wikidata records people named Moynihan in the United States.
    What type of surname is Moynihan?
    Moynihan is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Moynihan getting more or less common?
    More common. 4,148 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,352 in 2010, up 4.9%.
    What are other spellings of Moynihan?
    Minahan, Minihane, Mooneyhan, Moynahan and Moynan.