# O'Leary (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/oleary/  
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 | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,329 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,607 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,827 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.9% (21,904 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /oʊ ˈle.ɹi/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Leary, Learie |

## Etymology

From Irish Ó Laoghaire. The town in Prince Edward Island is named after early settler Michael O'Leary.

## Who carries it

Share of people named O'Leary 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) | 94% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 1.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

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

## People named O'Leary

- Matt O'Leary, American actor
- Brian O'Leary, American astronomer, astronaut, writer, blogger and advocate (1940-2011)
- William O'Leary, American actor
- Ian O'Leary, American basketball player (born 1986)
- Jean O'Leary, American lesbian and gay rights activist
- Max O'Leary, British association football player (born 1996)
- Dianne P. O'Leary, American mathematician, computer scientist

## Similar surnames

Oyler, Oller, Ohler, Oler, Oehler.

## 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.