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

Harkins, 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 Harkins surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Harkins in America

Harkins is the 3080th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Harkins surname appeared 11,662 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 Harkins.

We can also compare 2010 data for Harkins 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 Harkins

The surname Harkins is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic name "O'hArgain," which means "descendant of Argan." It is believed to have originated in the 10th or 11th century in the northern Irish province of Ulster, particularly in the counties of Armagh and Tyrone.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Harkins can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In the year 1197, a man named Argan O'hArgain is mentioned as a notable figure in the region.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, many Irish families, including the Harkins, were forced to relocate due to the Plantation of Ulster, a government-sponsored campaign to confiscate land from Irish Catholics and grant it to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland. This led to the widespread dispersion of the Harkins name throughout Ireland and eventually beyond.

In the 18th century, a prominent figure named Patrick Harkins (1690-1778) was a Catholic priest and historian who authored several works on Irish history and folklore. He is known for his efforts to preserve Irish language and culture during a time of significant upheaval.

Another notable individual was Thomas Harkins (1819-1892), a Canadian politician who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1872 to 1878, representing the riding of Northumberland County, Ontario.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the Harkins surname is that of James Harkins (1775-1854), a farmer and soldier from Pennsylvania who fought in the War of 1812.

A more recent figure was John Harkins (1912-2003), an American professional baseball player who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1930s and 1940s.

Additionally, John Harkins (1932-2017) was a prominent American businessman and philanthropist who served as the chairman and CEO of Fairfield Manufacturing Company, a leading producer of industrial textiles.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Harkins

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

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

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

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