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

Connolly, 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 Connolly surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Connolly in America

Connolly is the 1190th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Connolly surname appeared 29,710 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 10 people would have the surname Connolly.

We can also compare 2010 data for Connolly 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 Connolly

The surname Connolly is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic surname Ó Conghalaigh, which means "descendant of Conghalach". Conghalach was a personal name that originated from the Irish words "con" meaning hound, and "ri" meaning king or leader.

The name Connolly is believed to have first emerged in the 5th or 6th century AD, when surnames began to be adopted by prominent families in Ireland. The Connolly clan was initially concentrated in the counties of Leinster and Munster, particularly in the regions of Offaly and Tipperary.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name Connolly can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a notable figure named Conghalach Ua Ceallaigh, who was the King of Uí Failghe (a territory in modern-day County Offaly) in the late 10th century.

Among the notable bearers of the Connolly surname throughout history are:

1. John Connolly (1794-1866), an Irish-American Catholic priest and educator who founded the first Catholic university in the United States, the University of Notre Dame.

2. James Connolly (1868-1916), an Irish socialist leader, trade unionist, and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin.

3. Cyril Connolly (1903-1974), an English literary critic and writer, best known for his work "Enemies of Promise" and his editorship of the influential literary magazine "Horizon".

4. Marc Connolly (1890-1962), an American playwright and writer, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 for his play "The Green Pastures".

5. John Connolly (born 1968), an Irish writer best known for his series of novels featuring the private investigator Charlie Parker.

The Connolly surname has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Connolly Station (a railway station in Dublin), and Connolly Memorial Hospital (a hospital named after James Connolly in Blanchardstown, Dublin).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Connolly

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

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

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

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