Find out how popular the last name Cleghorn is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cleghorn.

Cleghorn, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cleghorn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cleghorn in America

Cleghorn is the 13551st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cleghorn surname appeared 2,237 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cleghorn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cleghorn to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cleghorn

The surname Cleghorn is of Scottish origin, deriving from the Clydesdale region of Scotland in the Middle Ages. The name is believed to be a locational surname, derived from the lands of Cleghorn in the parish of Covington and Thankertown in Lanarkshire.

The earliest recorded spelling of the name dates back to the 13th century, appearing as "de Clegyrne" in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a document recording those who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England during his invasion of Scotland. This suggests the name was well-established by the late 13th century in Scotland.

The name is thought to originate from the Old English words "clæg" meaning clay or clayland, and "hyrne" meaning a corner or nook, thus describing the geographic location of the lands from which the name is derived. The Cleghorn family was prominent landowners in this area during the medieval period.

One notable early bearer of the name was Sir Robert Cleghorn, a Scottish knight who fought alongside William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in the Scottish Wars of Independence against England in the early 14th century. His descendants continued to hold lands in Lanarkshire for several centuries.

Another prominent figure was William Cleghorn (1718-1754), a Scottish physician and botanist who served as a surgeon in the East India Company and made significant contributions to the study of Indian flora. He published several influential works on the subject during his lifetime.

In the 19th century, Andrew Cleghorn (1785-1841) was a Scottish horticulturist and botanist who introduced many new plant species to Scotland from his travels abroad. He served as the head gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh for over three decades.

The name also has a long association with the legal profession in Scotland, including James Cleghorn (1778-1838), a prominent lawyer and legal writer, and Thomas Cleghorn (1820-1898), a Scottish judge and Senator of the College of Justice.

While the name originated in Scotland, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and has been borne by various notable individuals, such as Robert Cleghorn Bunten (1892-1968), a Canadian politician and lawyer.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cleghorn

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cleghorn.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cleghorn was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cleghorn has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cleghorn was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cleghorn, please contact us.

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