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

Geoghegan, 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 Geoghegan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Geoghegan in America

Geoghegan is the 16802nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Geoghegan surname appeared 1,699 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 Geoghegan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Geoghegan 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 Geoghegan

The surname Geoghegan originated from Ireland and is a anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name "O'Geoghan". It is believed to have derived from the Irish words "giolla" meaning "servant" and "Eochaidh", which was an ancient masculine name meaning "horseman". The name can be traced back to the 10th century in the southern region of Ireland known as Leinster.

The Geoghegan clan was a prominent Irish family who held lands and territories in the counties of Westmeath and Meath. They were part of the Gaelic nobility and were known as the Lords of Moycashel and Kinaliah. One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name was in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century.

In the 12th century, Richard Geoghegan was a notable figure who served as the Bishop of Leighlin from 1162 to 1173. Another early record of the name can be found in the Red Book of the Exchequer, a medieval administrative document from England, which mentions a Willelmus Geoghegan in 1212.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, several members of the Geoghegan family played significant roles in Irish history. Sir Richard Geoghegan (1561-1627) was a prominent leader during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, while Conall Geoghegan (1590-1654) was a notable Irish historian and author who wrote about the history of the Geoghegan clan.

In more recent times, Thomas Geoghegan (1805-1853) was an Irish-American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Thomas Geoghegan (1916-2004) was an Irish author and playwright known for his works on Irish culture and history.

The surname Geoghegan has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Geoghegan's Castle in County Westmeath, which was the ancestral home of the clan. The name has also been spelled in different variations over time, including O'Geoghan, O'Geoghegan, and Gaughan.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Geoghegan

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

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

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

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