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

Hartigan, 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 Hartigan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hartigan in America

Hartigan is the 11597th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hartigan surname appeared 2,707 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 Hartigan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hartigan 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 Hartigan

The surname Hartigan has its origins in Ireland, dating back to the 16th century. It is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name "O'hArtgaine," which means "descendant of Artgaine." Artgaine was a personal name derived from the Gaelic words "art" meaning "bear" and "gan" meaning "without," suggesting the name might have originally referred to someone who was bearless or without a bear.

The earliest recorded instance of the Hartigan name can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The annals mention a "Donough O'Hartigan" who was involved in a skirmish in County Clare in the year 1581.

The Hartigans were most prevalent in County Clare and the surrounding areas of Munster in the southwestern part of Ireland. Some early variations of the spelling included Hartgan, Hartagen, and Hartagan.

One notable Hartigan from history was John Hartigan, a Irish Jacobite soldier who fought for the Catholic King James II during the Williamite War in Ireland from 1689 to 1691. He was born around 1660 and later fled to France after the war ended.

Another prominent figure was Patrick Hartigan (1778-1866), an Irish politician who served as a Member of Parliament for the County Limerick constituency in the United Kingdom Parliament from 1837 to 1847.

In the late 18th century, a branch of the Hartigan family emigrated from Ireland to Australia, where they became influential in the early colonial days. One of the earliest Australian Hartigans was John Hartigan (1799-1878), who arrived in Sydney in 1820 and later became a successful merchant and landowner.

The name Hartigan also has a connection to the literary world through the American novelist and short story writer Frank Hartigan (1905-1976), who was known for his works set in his native Boston and exploring themes of Irish-American identity.

Throughout history, the Hartigan surname has maintained a strong association with its Irish roots, originating from the Gaelic "O'hArtgaine" and appearing in various historical records and literature over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hartigan

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

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

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

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