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

Macklin, 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 Macklin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Macklin in America

Macklin is the 4927th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Macklin surname appeared 7,140 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 Macklin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Macklin 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 Macklin

The surname Macklin originated in Ireland and Scotland during the medieval era. It is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning son, and "gille" meaning servant or follower. The name essentially means "son of the servant" or "son of the follower".

Early records indicate the name was concentrated in the northern regions of Ireland and western Scotland, particularly in counties like Donegal, Fermanagh, and Argyll. Variations in spelling included Macklyne, MacGilline, and MacCleyn.

One of the earliest known references to the name appears in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, dating back to the 14th century. It mentions a "Gille Mocculin" who was a leader in County Fermanagh.

The Macklin name can also be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. It lists a "Radulfus filius Maclin" as a landowner in Lincolnshire.

Notable people with the Macklin surname throughout history include Sir Robert Macklin (1523-1587), a Scottish soldier and diplomat who served under Mary, Queen of Scots. There was also John Macklin (1650-1720), an Irish Catholic priest and historian who wrote about the Penal Laws against Catholics in Ireland.

In the 18th century, Charles Macklin (1690-1797) was a renowned Irish actor and dramatist who is credited with reforming theatrical acting styles of the time. Another prominent figure was Samuel Macklin (1755-1840), a British naval captain who served in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.

During the 19th century, Herbert Macklin (1870-1936) was a Canadian artist and illustrator known for his landscape paintings and etchings of the Canadian Rockies. He was a member of the renowned Group of Seven artists.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Macklin

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!