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

Gleeson, 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 Gleeson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gleeson in America

Gleeson is the 10907th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gleeson surname appeared 2,919 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 Gleeson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gleeson 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 Gleeson

The surname Gleeson is an ancient Irish name that originated in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is derived from the Gaelic name "O'Glaisne," which means "descendant of the green one" or "descendant of the young shoot or scion."

The name is believed to have originated in the 10th or 11th century when surnames first began to be used in Ireland. The earliest recorded instance of the name Gleeson appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, an ancient chronicle of medieval Irish history.

In the 12th century, during the Norman invasion of Ireland, the name Gleeson was anglicized from its original Gaelic form. The family settled primarily in the counties of Tipperary and Waterford, where they established themselves as influential landowners and chieftains.

One of the earliest notable figures with the surname Gleeson was Domhnall Ó Glaisne, who was the Bishop of Emly (a town in County Tipperary) in the 13th century. Another prominent individual was Sir John Gleeson, who was knighted in 1599 for his service to the English crown.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Gleesons were involved in the Elizabethan and Jacobean plantations of Ireland, during which time many members of the family were dispossessed of their lands. Despite these challenges, the Gleesons remained a prominent family in Ireland.

Some notable Gleesons throughout history include Brendan Gleeson, the acclaimed Irish actor born in 1955, known for roles in films such as Braveheart, Gangs of New York, and the Harry Potter series. There was also Michael Gleeson, an Irish politician and Member of Parliament in the 19th century, and Patrick Gleeson, an Irish poet and writer who lived in the early 20th century.

The Gleeson name has also been prominent in the history of Australian settlement, with many Irish immigrants bearing the surname settling in Australia from the 18th century onwards. One of the earliest recorded Gleesons in Australia was John Gleeson, a convict who arrived in 1801 and was granted land in New South Wales.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gleeson

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

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

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

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