Curran
An Anglicized form of Ó Corraidhin, an Irish surname meaning "descendant of the speckled or freckled one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,143 living Americans carry the first name Curran. It is a predominantly male name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Curran today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Curran births was 1993 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Curran. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Curran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 299,873 Americans
Peak year
1993
56 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,429
Tracked since 1916
Census
Curran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,219 people with the first name Curran, which placed it at #10,779 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,779
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,219 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Curran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Curran is White at 77.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.8%) and Black (5.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Curran described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Curran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.6% · 946
- Two or more races6.8% · 83
- Black or African American5.9% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 68
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Curran
Curran leans heavily male at 97.5% of total registrations, but 30 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Curran as a male name
- Ranked #8,429 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (56 births)
Curran as a female name
- Ranked #15,991 in 2002
- 5 female births in 2002
- Peak: 2000 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Curran leans strongly male. 1,084 people counted with this name were male (89.0%), compared with 134 female bearers (11.0%).
Popularity
Curran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Curran from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 368 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Curran by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Curran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Currans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Oregon recorded the most babies named Curran, while Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Curran
The name Curran is a variant of the Irish Gaelic name Curnán, which means "little curved one" or "little champion." It is derived from the Irish word "corra," meaning "curved" or "bent," and the diminutive suffix "-án." The name has its origins in ancient Ireland and is believed to have been in use since the early medieval period.
Curran is primarily associated with the Irish culture and has been a popular name in Ireland for centuries. It is found in various ancient Irish texts and manuscripts, indicating its long-standing presence in the region. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 8th century, when it appeared in the Irish Annals, historical records compiled by Irish monks.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Curran was Saint Curán of Ross-Enarc, an Irish abbot who lived in the 7th century. He was the founder of the monastery of Ross-Enarc in County Galway, Ireland, and is venerated in the Catholic Church. Another significant historical figure was Curran of Bridgecastle, a 16th-century Irish chieftain who played a role in the Desmond Rebellions against English rule in Ireland.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, several prominent Irish figures bore the name Curran. John Philpot Curran (1750-1817) was a celebrated Irish orator, politician, and judge who served as Master of the Rolls in Ireland. He was renowned for his eloquence and his defense of United Irishmen during the era of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sarah Curran (1782-1808), an Irish woman renowned for her beauty and her romantic relationship with Robert Emmet, a leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1803. Their tragic love story became a part of Irish folklore and inspired numerous works of literature and art.
In the 20th century, Curran was the first name of Curran J. Swint (1897-1977), an American politician who served as the 36th Governor of Mississippi from 1956 to 1960. He was known for his efforts to promote economic development and industrial growth in the state.
While the name Curran has its roots in Ireland, it has gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among those with Irish heritage or connections. Its unique sound and meaning have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name over the centuries.
People
Curran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Curran as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Curran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Curran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Curran going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 299,873 US residents.
Is Curran a common name?
We classify Curran as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Curran most popular?
The single biggest year for Curran was 1993, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Curran is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Curran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,219 people with the name Curran, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,779 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Curran in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Curran?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Curran leans strongly male. 1,084 people counted with this name were male (89.0%), compared with 134 female bearers (11.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Curran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Curran is White at 77.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.8%) and Black (5.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Curran most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Curran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.6% (946 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Curran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Curran a male name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Curran in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Curran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Curran in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Curran can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Curran?
Want to know how many Americans are named Curran? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.