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

Flinn, 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 Flinn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Flinn in America

Flinn is the 6357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Flinn surname appeared 5,359 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Flinn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Flinn 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 Flinn

The surname Flinn originated in Ireland, likely in the early medieval period. It is derived from the Gaelic name Ó Floinn, which means "descendant of Flann". Flann was a popular Irish name derived from the old Irish word "flann" meaning "red" or "ruddy".

The Flinn surname is found primarily in Ulster, especially in counties Antrim and Derry. It is also seen in parts of Connacht and Leinster. The name has several spelling variations, including Flynn, O'Flynn, and Flin.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, where a Gilla Pátraic Ó Floinn is mentioned in the year 1154.

In the 16th century, a Flinn family was recorded as holding lands in County Antrim. The Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns, a collection of royal decrees, mentions a pardon granted to Edmond Flin of County Antrim in 1584.

Notable individuals with the surname Flinn include Michael Flinn (1825-1898), an Irish-born American politician who served as mayor of Chicago from 1876 to 1879. Another prominent figure was Thomas Flinn (1852-1931), an American politician and businessman from Pennsylvania.

In the literary world, Kathleen Flinn (born 1969) is a renowned American food writer and memoirist, best known for her book "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry".

Moving to the world of sports, John Flinn (1926-2007) was a Scottish professional football player and manager, who played for Airdrieonians and managed several clubs, including Partick Thistle.

Finally, in the field of science, Robert Flinn (1888-1969) was a British geologist and petrologist, known for his contributions to the study of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Flinn

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

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

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

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