How common is the surname O'Kelly?

1,508 people in the United States had the surname O'Kelly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 204,738 Americans. It ranked 18,366th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named O'Kelly?

Albéric O'Kelly de Galway, Belgian chess grandmaster (1911–1980), followed by Gregory O'Kelly.

Where is the surname O'Kelly most common?

Wikidata records people named O'Kelly in Belgium and Australia.

Is the surname O'Kelly getting more or less common?

More common. 1,480 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,508 in 2010, up 1.9%.

The surname O'Kelly

A surname, carried by 1,508 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex O240

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). O'Kelly is more common than 88.7% of them.

Origin

An Irish surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,508 people named O'Kelly in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 204,738 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,480.

#18,366

rank among US surnames

1,508

people in 2010

0.5

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #17,540)

Who is named O'Kelly

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

86% of people named O'Kelly identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.3% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.5%

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous O'Kellys

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Albéric O'Kelly de Galway
Belgian chess grandmaster (1911–1980)
Gregory O'Kelly
Australian bishop, born 1941

Notable O'Kellys come mostly from Belgium (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like O'Kelly

O'Kelly has the Soundex code O240, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code O240.

Questions

How common is the surname O'Kelly?: 1,508 people in the United States had the surname O'Kelly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 204,738 Americans. It ranked 18,366th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname O'Kelly?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named O'Kelly identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.3% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named O'Kelly?: Albéric O'Kelly de Galway, Belgian chess grandmaster (1911–1980), followed by Gregory O'Kelly.
Where is the surname O'Kelly most common?: Wikidata records people named O'Kelly in Belgium and Australia.
Is the surname O'Kelly getting more or less common?: More common. 1,480 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,508 in 2010, up 1.9%.