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

Fahey, 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 Fahey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fahey in America

Fahey is the 3811th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fahey surname appeared 9,299 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Fahey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fahey 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 Fahey

The surname Fahey is of Irish origin and can be traced back to County Tipperary, Ireland in the late 16th century. It is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name O'Fahy or O'Fathaidh, derived from the word "fathach" meaning "leader" or "chief".

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fahey can be found in the Fiants of the Reign of Elizabeth I, which mentions a Patrick O'Fahy in 1598. The name also appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, an ancient chronicle of medieval Irish history, where it is spelled as O'Fathaidh.

The Fahey surname was particularly prevalent in the baronies of Iffa and Offa in County Tipperary, where it was associated with the O'Fahy clan. Some notable individuals bearing this name include John Fahey (1805-1873), an Irish-American politician who served as the 13th Mayor of New York City, and John Henry Fahey (1919-2001), an American musician and historian often referred to as the "Father of American Folk Music".

Another prominent figure was Reverend Denis Fahey (1883-1954), an Irish Catholic priest and author who wrote extensively on the topic of Catholic social teaching. In the world of literature, Anne Fahey (1838-1916) was a British novelist and playwright known for her works such as "The Warden's Niece" and "The Broad Arrow".

The Fahey name can also be found in other parts of Ireland, including County Cork, where it is sometimes spelled as Fahie. One notable bearer of this variant spelling was Father Patrick Fahie (1723-1798), a Catholic priest who played a significant role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Over the centuries, the Fahey surname has spread across the globe, with many descendants of Irish immigrants carrying the name in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fahey

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

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

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

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