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

Kavanagh, 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 Kavanagh surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kavanagh in America

Kavanagh is the 6414th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kavanagh surname appeared 5,301 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Kavanagh.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kavanagh 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 Kavanagh

The surname Kavanagh is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic Ó Cavanaigh, meaning "descendant of Cavanagh." The name first emerged in County Leinster in the 12th century.

Kavanagh is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Cavanaigh, which means "descendant of Cavanagh." The name Cavanagh itself is derived from the Gaelic personal name Caomhánach, meaning "gentle" or "kind."

The Kavanaghs were an influential family in County Leinster, Ireland, particularly in the medieval period. They held significant power and land in the region, and their name appears frequently in historical records and manuscripts from that time.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kavanagh is in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The annals mention Domhnall Caomhánach, King of Leinster, who died in 1175.

Another notable figure with the surname Kavanagh was Art Kavanagh, who was elected as the 16th Chief of the Name in 1554. He played a significant role in the Leinster Rebellion against the English Crown in the late 16th century.

During the 17th century, several members of the Kavanagh family were prominent in the Irish Confederate Wars, including Morgan Kavanagh, who served as a colonel in the Confederate Catholic forces.

In the 18th century, Brian Kavanagh was a renowned Irish poet and songwriter, known for his compositions in the Irish language. He lived from 1690 to 1765.

In more recent history, Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967) was a celebrated Irish poet and novelist, widely regarded as one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century in Ireland.

The surname Kavanagh is still relatively common in Ireland, particularly in the Leinster region, reflecting the family's historical roots and influence in that area.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kavanagh

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

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

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

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