Mccarty
An Irish patronymic surname meaning "son of a loving person".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Mccarty. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 50.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Mccarty today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mccarty births was 2008 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mccarty. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mccarty. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2008
5 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2008 SSA rank
#13,902
Tracked since 2008
Gender
Gender distribution for Mccarty
Mccarty is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 10 total registrations, 5 (50.0%) were male and 5 (50.0%) were female.
Mccarty as a male name
- Ranked #13,902 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 2008 (5 births)
Mccarty as a female name
- Ranked #17,947 in 2016
- 5 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2016 (5 births)
Popularity
Mccarty: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mccarty from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mccarty 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 Mccarty during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mccarty
Mccarty is an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name Mac Artúir, derived from the elements "mac" meaning son and "Artúir" meaning bear. The name traces its origins back to the early medieval period in Ireland, where it was borne by various members of prominent Irish families.
The name Mccarty is believed to have first emerged in the 12th century, during the Norman invasion of Ireland. As the English-speaking Normans encountered the native Irish population, they often adapted and anglicized Irish names to conform to their own linguistic conventions, leading to the creation of variants like Mccarty.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mccarty can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, an extensive chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the early 17th century. The annals mention several individuals bearing the name Mccarty, including Dermod Mccarty, a chieftain in County Cork who lived in the 14th century.
Throughout the centuries, the name Mccarty has been associated with various notable figures in Irish and British history. One of the most famous was Florence Mccarty (1537-1635), an Irish chieftain and landowner who played a significant role in the Desmond Rebellions against English rule in the late 16th century.
Another prominent figure was Sir Robert Mccarty (1638-1692), an Irish soldier and writer who served as Governor of the Isle of Man and wrote several works on military strategy and tactics. In the 18th century, James Mccarty (1733-1789) was a prominent Irish-American merchant and landowner in Virginia.
Moving into the 19th century, Mccarty continued to be a name of significance. John Mccarty (1820-1893) was an Irish-American businessman and politician who served as the 14th Governor of Nevada. In the field of literature, Cormac Mccarty (1891-1980) was an acclaimed Irish novelist and short story writer, best known for his works exploring rural life in Ireland.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have borne the name Mccarty throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance within Irish and Irish-American culture.
People
Mccarty + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mccarty as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mccarty: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mccarty?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mccarty 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Mccarty a common name?
We classify Mccarty as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mccarty most popular?
The single biggest year for Mccarty was 2008, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mccarty is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Mccarty in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mccarty a female name?
Yes, 50.0% of people registered as Mccarty in the SSA data are female. 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 Mccarty still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mccarty 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 Mccarty 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Mccarty?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Mccarty at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.