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

Leavy, 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 Leavy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Leavy in America

Leavy is the 14070th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Leavy surname appeared 2,138 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 Leavy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Leavy 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 Leavy

The surname Leavy originates from Ireland and dates back to the 12th century. It is an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Léamhthaidh, which means "descendant of Léamhthaidh." The name Léamhthaidh is derived from the Irish word "leamh," meaning "elm tree."

In ancient Irish records, the name is often spelled as O'Leavy or Ó Léamhthaidh. The Leavy clan was prominent in County Sligo, particularly in the baronies of Leyny and Corran. They were known as a family of poets and historians.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leavy appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In 1265, the Annals mention a member of the Leavy family named Giolla na Naomh Ó Léamhthaidh, who was a renowned scholar and poet.

The Leavy family played a significant role in the Irish literary tradition. In the 16th century, Ferghal Óg Ó Léamhthaidh (c. 1530 – c. 1590) was a notable Irish poet and historian from County Sligo. His works include historical poems and genealogies of Irish families.

Another prominent figure with the surname Leavy was John Leavy (c. 1704 – 1778), an Irish Catholic priest and historian from County Westmeath. He wrote extensively on the history of Ireland and the struggles of Irish Catholics during the Penal Laws.

In the 19th century, Michael Leavy (1820 – 1898) was an Irish-born Australian Catholic priest and educator. He played a significant role in establishing Catholic schools and churches in Australia.

Another notable bearer of the Leavy surname was James Leavy (1885 – 1952), an Irish politician and member of the Irish Labour Party. He served as a member of Dáil Éireann (the Irish Parliament) from 1923 to 1948.

The Leavy name has also been associated with place names in Ireland, such as Leavylea and Leavybracky, which are townlands in County Sligo. These place names likely derived from the Leavy family's historical presence in the region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Leavy

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

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

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

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