Heavin last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Heavin

An Anglicized spelling of the Irish surname Ó hÉibhilín, descendant of a small person.

Heavin, 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 Heavin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Heavin in America

Heavin is the 39773rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Heavin surname appeared 552 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 Heavin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Heavin 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank39773394440.83%
Count5525255.01%
Proportion per 100k0.190.190.00%

The history of the last name Heavin

The surname Heavin has its origins in Ireland, where it first emerged in the 14th century. It is derived from the Gaelic word "O'hEibhilin," which means "descendant of Ibhilin," a personal name that may have roots in the Old Norse word "yfir," meaning "over" or "above."

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In these annals, the name is spelled in various ways, including O'Heibhilin, O'Heibhilein, and O'Heibhillin.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Domhnall O'Heibhilin, a cleric from County Tipperary who lived in the late 14th century. He was known for his scholarship and his translations of religious texts into Irish.

In the 16th century, the name appears in the Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns, a collection of documents relating to the administration of Ireland during the Tudor period. These records mention several members of the O'Heibhilin family who held lands in County Tipperary and County Kilkenny.

During the 17th century, the name underwent a process of anglicization, and various spellings such as Hevin, Heavin, and Heavan became more common. One notable bearer of the name from this period was Patrick Hevin, a Catholic priest who was executed in 1679 for his involvement in the Popish Plot, a supposed Catholic conspiracy against King Charles II.

In the 18th century, the name Heavin began to spread beyond Ireland, with some bearers emigrating to other parts of the British Isles and North America. One notable figure was James Heavin (1734-1804), an Irish-born soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Pennsylvania.

Other notable individuals with the surname Heavin include:

  1. Michael Heavin (1872-1939), an Irish nationalist and member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
  2. John Heavin (1901-1981), an American baseball player who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Athletics.
  3. Mary Heavin (1920-2005), an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway productions.
  4. Patrick Heavin (1931-2016), an Irish hurler who played for the Tipperary senior hurling team.
  5. Brendan Heavin (born 1968), an Irish businessman and founder of the financial services company Heavin Wealth Management.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Heavin

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

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 Heavin was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only92.75%512
Non-Hispanic Black Only0.00%0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin5.62%31

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 Heavin has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White92.75%96.57%-4.04%
Black0.00%(S)%(S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander(S)%(S)%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races(S)%0.95%(S)%
Hispanic5.62%1.52%114.85%

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

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

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