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

Greaney, 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 Greaney surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Greaney in America

Greaney is the 19210th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Greaney surname appeared 1,413 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Greaney.

We can also compare 2010 data for Greaney 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 Greaney

The surname Greaney is of Irish origin and dates back to the 11th century. It is believed to have derived from the Gaelic personal name Gradhnat, which means "illustrious" or "noble." The name was initially spelled as Graidnat or Graidhnait.

The Greaney name was primarily found in County Galway, Ireland, where it was first recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters, a historical chronicle of medieval Irish history. These annals mention several individuals with the surname Greaney, including Tadhg Greaney, who was a prominent chieftain in the 13th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Greaney surname can be found in the Pipe Roll of Cloyne, a 14th-century manuscript that documented tax records in Ireland. This document mentions a "Willelmus Greyneth" from County Cork.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Greaney name was also associated with several notable figures. One such individual was Conor Greaney, a Irish poet and scholar who lived in the late 16th century. Another was Eoghan Greaney, a member of the Irish Confederacy during the Irish Confederate Wars (1641-1653).

In the 18th century, a prominent member of the Greaney family was Patrick Greaney (1707-1783), an Irish Catholic priest who served as the Bishop of Elphin from 1763 until his death.

The 19th century saw the rise of several influential Greaneys, including Michael Greaney (1856-1928), an Irish businessman and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Galway City from 1900 to 1918.

Another notable figure was John Greaney (1884-1951), an Irish-American labor leader and politician who served as the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1946 to 1951.

While the Greaney surname originated in Ireland, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to Irish emigration. Over the centuries, variations in spelling have emerged, such as Greany, Grainey, and Granny.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Greaney

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

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

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

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