# O'Neill (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/oneill/  
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) | 50,028 |
| US rank (2010) | 689 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 6,171 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.8% (48,656 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /oʊˈnil/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Anglicisation of an Irish surname meaning "descendant of Niall".

## Who carries it

Share of people named O'Neill 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) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named O'Neill in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Canada.

## People named O'Neill

- Eugene O'Neill, American playwright (1888–1953)
- Ed O'Neill, American actor (born 1946)
- Oona O'Neill, American-British actress (1925–1991)
- Jennifer O'Neill, American actress and model
- Gerard K. O'Neill, American physicist and futurologist (1927–1992)
- Aiden O'Neill, Australian soccer player (born 1998)
- Christopher O'Neill, British-American businessperson, husband of Swedish Princess Madeleine (born 1974)
- Paul H. O'Neill, American politician (1935-2020)
- Susie O'Neill, Australian swimmer
- Rose O'Neill, American illustrator (1874-1944)
- Tip O'Neill, American politician (1912–1994)
- Michael O'Neill, American actor

and 18 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

O'Neal, O'Neil, O'Malley.

## 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.