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

Journigan, 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 Journigan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Journigan in America

Journigan is the 60505th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Journigan surname appeared 333 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 Journigan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Journigan 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 Journigan

The surname Journigan has its origins in the French language and can be traced back to the 14th century in the region of Normandy, France. It is believed to be derived from the Old French word "jornee," which means "day's work" or "day's journey." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as an occupational surname to someone who worked as a day laborer or traveled frequently for their work.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Journigan can be found in the Cartulaire de Louviers, a medieval cartulary from the Benedictine abbey of Louviers in Normandy, dated around 1350. In this document, a man named Jehan Journigan is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.

During the 15th century, the name Journigan appears to have spread beyond Normandy to other parts of northern France. In 1492, a record from the town of Amiens mentions a certain Guillaume Journigan, who was a merchant and landowner.

As the name continued to evolve over the centuries, various spellings emerged, such as Jornigan, Jurnigan, and Giornigan, reflecting regional dialect variations and the influence of different scribes.

One notable figure in history who bore the surname Journigan was Jean-Baptiste Journigan (1687-1752), a French military officer who served in the War of the Spanish Succession and later became the governor of the island of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) from 1744 to 1752.

Another prominent individual was Marie-Thérèse Journigan (1722-1798), a French writer and salonnière who hosted a influential literary salon in Paris during the Age of Enlightenment. Her salon attracted intellectuals and writers such as Voltaire and Diderot.

In the 19th century, the name Journigan spread to other parts of Europe and beyond. François Journigan (1812-1882), a French-born explorer and naturalist, is known for his expeditions to South America, during which he documented numerous plant and animal species.

Across the Atlantic, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the United States was Henry Journigan (1793-1867), a farmer and landowner from Virginia who fought in the War of 1812.

Lastly, Émilie Journigan (1865-1942), a French-Canadian artist and sculptor, is renowned for her intricate woodcarvings and sculptures depicting scenes from rural life in Quebec.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Journigan

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

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

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

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