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

Guinn, 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 Guinn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Guinn in America

Guinn is the 2868th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Guinn surname appeared 12,577 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Guinn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Guinn 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 Guinn

The surname Guinn originated in Ireland and traces its roots back to the ancient Gaelic name Ó Cuinn, meaning "descendant of Conn." Conn was a legendary high king of Ireland who ruled in the 2nd century AD. The name is derived from the Irish word "conn," meaning "chief" or "leader."

The earliest recorded instances of the name Guinn can be found in medieval Irish annals and genealogical manuscripts. One notable entry is in the Annals of Ulster, which mentions a "Gilla-Críst Ó Cuinn" in the year 1202. This suggests that the surname had already become established by the 12th century.

In the 16th century, the surname Guinn was primarily found in counties Galway and Roscommon in the province of Connacht. During this period, the anglicized spelling "Guinn" began to emerge, as the Irish language was suppressed and English became more prevalent.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was Sir Patrick Guinn, a prominent landowner and member of the Irish Parliament in the late 16th century. Another notable figure was John Guinn, a Catholic priest who was executed for his faith during the English Reformation in 1642.

In the 17th century, many Irish families, including those with the surname Guinn, were displaced from their ancestral lands during the Plantation of Ulster and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. This led to the spread of the name to other parts of Ireland and beyond.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Guinn surname can be found in various records across Ireland, including birth, marriage, and death registers. Some notable individuals from this period include Michael Guinn (1745-1823), a Catholic priest and writer, and Patrick Guinn (1798-1872), a noted Catholic educator and founder of several schools in Dublin.

As Irish emigration increased in the 19th century, the surname Guinn began to appear in records in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. Among those who emigrated was James Guinn (1841-1917), a prominent businessman and politician in Kansas, United States.

Other notable individuals with the surname Guinn throughout history include John Guinn (1592-1668), an English clergyman and author, and Vincent Guinn (1926-2017), an American actor and playwright.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Guinn

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

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

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

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