2000
#15,676
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,711
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.63
Rare Last name
Macauley
An Irish surname derived from the prefix Mac, meaning "son of", combined with Auley, a personal name of uncertain origin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,385 Americans carry the last name Macauley. That puts it at #13,894 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.70 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 143,713 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Macauley surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Macauley with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 143,713
Census rank
#13,894
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,080 bearers of the surname Macauley in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.70 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13894th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Macauley, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.9%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Macauley
The surname MACAULEY is of Scottish origin, derived from the personal name Aulay, which is a Gaelic form of the Latin name Olaus. The name is believed to have originated in the 13th century in the Scottish Highlands.
The prefix "Mac" in the name MACAULEY means "son of" in Gaelic, indicating that the name originally referred to the son of a person named Aulay. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval Scottish records and manuscripts.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Sir Aulay MacAulay, a Scottish knight who lived in the late 13th century and fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence against the English. He was a staunch supporter of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.
Another notable historical figure with the name MACAULEY was Reverend Aulay Macaulay, a Scottish Presbyterian minister who lived in the 17th century and was a prominent figure in the Scottish Reformation. He was born in 1619 and died in 1666.
In the 18th century, Thomas Babington Macaulay, a renowned English historian, essayist, and politician, was born in 1800 to a family with Scottish roots. His works, such as the "History of England" and his essays on various subjects, were widely influential and celebrated.
The name MACAULEY can also be found in various place names in Scotland, such as Macaulay Island and Macaulay Point in the Hebrides, reflecting the historical presence of the name in these regions.
Another notable bearer of the name was Aulay Macaulay, a Scottish author and journalist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1866 and died in 1936, and his works included novels, short stories, and historical writings.
Overall, the surname MACAULEY has a rich history rooted in the Scottish Highlands, with various notable individuals bearing the name throughout the centuries, contributing to various fields such as literature, religion, and politics.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Macauley
Among Census respondents with the surname Macauley, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.9%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Macauley bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Macauley surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.9% · 1,496
- Black or African American18.4% · 382
- Two or more races4.2% · 87
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 70
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Macauley
Macauley appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#18,116
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,537
-174 bearers (-10.2%)
Per 100,000 0.52
Rank movement Down 2,440 places
2020
#13,894
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,080
+543 bearers (+35.3%)
Per 100,000 0.70
Rank movement Up 4,222 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,676 | 1,711 | 0.63 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #18,116 | 1,537 | 0.52 | -174 bearers (-10.2%) | Down 2,440 places |
| 2020 | #13,894 | 2,080 | 0.70 | +543 bearers (+35.3%) | Up 4,222 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Macauley surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #18,116 | #13,894 | 23.3% |
| Count | 1,537 | 2,080 | 35.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.52 | 0.70 | 33.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Macauley bearers went from 1,537 to 2,080 (+35.3% change). The surname moved up 4,222 positions in the national ranking, going from #18,116 to #13,894.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Macauley
FAQ
Macauley surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Macauley?
Name Census estimates that about 2,385 living Americans carry the surname Macauley. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 143,713 residents.
How common is Macauley?
Macauley ranks #13,894 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.70 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,080 people with the surname Macauley. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,385), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.70 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Macauley.
Has Macauley become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Macauley went from 1,537 recorded bearers to 2,080. That is an increase of 543 (+35.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #18,116 to #13,894.
What does the Census say about the background of Macauley?
Among Census respondents with the surname Macauley, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.9%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Macauley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.9% (1,496 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Macauley appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (71.9%), Black (18.4%), Two or More Races (4.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Macauley (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Macauley mean?
An Irish surname derived from the prefix Mac, meaning "son of", combined with Auley, a personal name of uncertain origin. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Macauley (0.70 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Macauley?
See how many people have the last name Macauley on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.