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

Lafferty, 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 Lafferty surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lafferty in America

Lafferty is the 3443rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lafferty surname appeared 10,373 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 Lafferty.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lafferty 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 Lafferty

The surname Lafferty has its origins in Ireland, where it was first recorded in the 16th century. It is believed to be an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name "Ó Laifeartaigh" or "Ó Labhartaigh," which means "descendant of Laifeartach" or "descendant of Labhartach." The personal name Laifeartach or Labhartach is derived from the Old Norse name "Lôftr," meaning "praise" or "praise-worthy."

The name Lafferty is most closely associated with County Donegal in Ulster, where it was prominent among the Gaelic clans of that region. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Fiants of the Tudor sovereigns of England, which were official records of royal grants and pardons issued in Ireland during the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Lafferty was Phelim Oge Lafferty, a landowner in County Donegal who was mentioned in the Fiants of 1602. Another early bearer of the name was Patrick Lafferty, who was born in County Donegal around 1610 and served as a soldier in the Irish Confederate Wars of the 1640s.

In the 18th century, the Lafferty name gained prominence through individuals such as Redmond Lafferty (1720-1790), a Catholic priest and scholar who taught at the Irish College in Paris, and Hugh Lafferty (1755-1841), a United Irishman and rebel leader who fought in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

The 19th century saw the rise of several notable figures with the Lafferty surname, including James Lafferty (1818-1891), an Irish-born American Catholic priest and missionary who served in the Diocese of Detroit, and William Lafferty (1843-1921), an Irish-born Australian politician and member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia.

Other notable individuals with the surname Lafferty include Sir Colville Lafferty (1878-1957), a British civil servant and diplomat who served as Governor of Bermuda, and Michael Lafferty (1920-2011), an Irish Gaelic footballer and hurler who played for the Donegal senior teams in both sports.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lafferty

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

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

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

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