# O'Connell (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/oconnell/  
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 Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 36,194 |
| US rank (2010) | 961 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 8,530 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.6% (35,610 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Anglicization of Irish Ó Conaill (“descendant of Connel”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named O'Connell 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) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named O'Connell in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

## People named O'Connell

- Finneas O'Connell, American musician and actor (born 1997)
- Jerry O'Connell, American actor
- Jack O'Connell, British actor
- Arthur O'Connell, American stage, film and television actor (1908-1981)
- Charlie O'Connell, American actor
- Helen O'Connell, American actress and singer (1920–1993)
- William Henry O'Connell, American Roman Catholic cardinal (1859–1944)
- Christopher O'Connell, Australian tennis player
- Brittany O'Connell, American pornographic film actress
- Deirdre O'Connell, American actress
- David M. O'Connell, American Catholic bishop
- Carol O'Connell, American writer

and 7 more on Wikidata.

## 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.