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

Dunleavy, 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 Dunleavy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dunleavy in America

Dunleavy is the 12351st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dunleavy surname appeared 2,517 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 Dunleavy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dunleavy 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 Dunleavy

The surname Dunleavy originates from Ireland and traces its roots back to the 11th century. It is an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name O'Dunleavy, which means "descendant of Dunleavy." The prefix "O'" signifies "grandson" or "descendant of" in Irish.

The name Dunleavy is derived from the Irish personal name Donnsleibhe, which translates to "brown mountain" or "brown hillside." This suggests that the original bearer of the name may have lived near a brown-colored hill or mountain.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dunleavy can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. It mentions a Donnsleibhe O'Dunleavy who was a notable figure in County Sligo, Ireland, in the 12th century.

The surname Dunleavy has undergone several spelling variations over the centuries, including O'Dunleavy, O'Dunlevey, O'Dunlevy, Dunleavy, Dunleavey, and Dunlevy. These variations reflect the challenges of transliterating Irish names into English and the influence of local dialects.

Notable individuals bearing the surname Dunleavy include:

1. Michael Dunleavy (1615-1678), an Irish Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Raphoe from 1647 to 1678.
2. Christopher Dunleavy (1755-1828), an Irish-born merchant and politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the early 19th century.
3. John Dunleavy (1890-1942), an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.
4. Brendan Dunleavy (1923-1987), an Irish politician and member of Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) representing the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.
5. Michael Dunleavy (born 1963), an American politician who served as the Secretary of the New York State Senate from 2011 to 2019.

The surname Dunleavy continues to be prevalent in Ireland, particularly in counties like Sligo, Leitrim, and Mayo, where it has deep historical roots. It has also spread to other parts of the world due to Irish emigration over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dunleavy

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

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

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

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