How common is the surname Sweeney?

52,410 people in the United States had the surname Sweeney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,891 Americans. It ranked 651st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Sweeney?

Sydney Sweeney, American actress (born 1997), followed by D. B. Sweeney.

Where is the surname Sweeney most common?

Wikidata records people named Sweeney in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Sweeney?

Sweeney is /ˈswiːni/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Sweeney getting more or less common?

More common. 51,500 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 52,410 in 2010, up 1.8%.

The surname Sweeney

An Irish surname, carried by 52,410 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈswiːni/ 2 syllables Soundex S500

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Sweeney is more common than 99.6% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Suibhne. Compare McSweeney.

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 52,410 people named Sweeney in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,891 Americans. That is up 1.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 51,500.

#651

rank among US surnames

52,410

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.8%

change since 2000 (was #591)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#642	York	53,059	5,819
#643	Hodge	52,920	5,834
#644	Villa	52,817	5,846
#645	Abbott	52,739	5,854
#646	Allison	52,701	5,858
#647	Tapia	52,651	5,864
#648	Gates	52,569	5,873

Who is named Sweeney

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

91% of people named Sweeney identified as white (not Hispanic), 4.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 4.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Sweeneys

17 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Sydney Sweeney
American actress (born 1997)
D. B. Sweeney
American actor, born 1961
Julia Sweeney
American actress, author, comedian, born 1959
Alison Sweeney
Actress, born 1976
Tim Sweeney
American game developer (born 1970)
Joseph Sweeney
American actor (1884–1963)
Mary Sweeney
American film editor, film producer, screenwriter and film director, born 1953
Bob Sweeney
American television director and actor (1918–1992)
Madeline Amy Sweeney
American flight attendant (1965–2001)
Anne Sweeney
American business woman (born 1957)
Patrick Sweeney
British coxswain, born 1952
James Joseph Sweeney
American bishop, 1913–1968

Notable Sweeneys come mostly from the United States (16) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Sweeney

Sweeney has the Soundex code S500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S500.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Sweeney come from?: Anglicized form of Irish Ó Suibhne. Compare McSweeney.
How common is the surname Sweeney?: 52,410 people in the United States had the surname Sweeney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,891 Americans. It ranked 651st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Sweeney?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Sweeney identified as white (not Hispanic), and 4.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Sweeney?: Sydney Sweeney, American actress (born 1997), followed by D. B. Sweeney.
Where is the surname Sweeney most common?: Wikidata records people named Sweeney in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Sweeney?: Sweeney is /ˈswiːni/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Sweeney getting more or less common?: More common. 51,500 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 52,410 in 2010, up 1.8%.
What are other spellings of Sweeney?: Sweany, Sweeny and Swinney.