Connell last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Connell

An Irish surname derived from the Gaelic "O Conaill," meaning "descendant of Conall," a personal name meaning "strong wolf."

Connell, 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 Connell surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Connell in America

Connell is the 1589th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Connell surname appeared 22,552 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Connell.

We can also compare 2010 data for Connell 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 1589 1470 7.78%
Count 22,552 22,183 1.65%
Proportion per 100k 7.65 8.22 -7.18%

The history of the last name Connell

The surname Connell originated in Ireland, with records dating back to the 12th century. It is an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name "O'Conghalaigh," which means "descendant of Conghalach." Conghalach was a personal name derived from the Gaelic words "con" meaning hound, and "ghal" meaning valor or bravery.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 15th century. The Annals mention a "Conghalach Ua Conghalaigh" who was the chief of the Uí Conghalaigh clan in the 12th century.

The Connell surname is particularly associated with County Donegal in Ulster, where the Uí Conghalaigh clan was based. The name is also found in other parts of Ireland, including Counties Sligo, Mayo, and Galway.

Notable individuals with the surname Connell include:

  1. Sir John Connell (1616-1698), an Irish landowner and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for County Donegal.
  2. Michael Connell (1804-1879), an Irish-born American Catholic priest and educator who founded the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
  3. Evan Shelby Connell (1924-2013), an American novelist and intellectual known for his works such as "Mrs. Bridge" and "Mr. Bridge."
  4. Dermot Connell (born 1950), an Irish former hurler who played for the Cork senior hurling team and won two All-Ireland medals.
  5. Yvonne Connell (born 1966), a New Zealand former swimmer and Olympic gold medalist in the 200-meter freestyle event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The Connell surname has also been recorded with various spellings over the centuries, including O'Connell, O'Conghaile, Conghail, and Connel. Some of these variations may have been influenced by anglicization or regional dialects within Ireland.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Connell

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

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 Connell was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 91.78% 20,698
Non-Hispanic Black Only 3.41% 769
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.54% 122
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.43% 97
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.44% 325
Hispanic Origin 2.40% 541

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 Connell has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 91.78% 93.51% -1.87%
Black 3.41% 3.36% 1.48%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.54% 0.38% 34.78%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.43% 0.32% 29.33%
Two or More Races 1.44% 1.07% 29.48%
Hispanic 2.40% 1.36% 55.32%

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 Connell was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Connell last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 14, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/connell-surname-popularity/.

"Connell last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/connell-surname-popularity/. Accessed 14 December, 2024

Connell last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/connell-surname-popularity/.

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