2000
#5,725
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,553
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.06
Rare Last name
Macmillan
Son of the bald or tonsured man, or devotee of Saint Maoláin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,286 Americans carry the last name Macmillan. That puts it at #6,026 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.83 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 54,527 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Macmillan 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 Macmillan with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.3K
1 in 54,527
Census rank
#6,026
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,482 bearers of the surname Macmillan in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.83 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6026th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Macmillan, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Macmillan
The surname MACMILLAN originated from Scotland, where it first appeared in the 13th century. It is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning "son" and "Maolmhuaidh" or "Maolmhuire," which are personal names meaning "disciple of St. Moloch" or "disciple of the Virgin Mary." The name likely referred to an early bearer who was a devotee of one of these saints.
In its earliest recorded forms, the name appeared as MacMolochi, MacMolondh, and MacMolundi in various medieval Scottish records and charters. The Clan MacMillan, one of the oldest clans in Argyll, traced their descent from a 13th-century chief named Somhairle, whose son was known as Gillespie MacSomhairle or Gillespie MacMillan.
The MACMILLAN name appears in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland as early as 1296, when Dougal MacMolodych is mentioned. In 1532, Duncan MacMolcalum of Knap is recorded as a witness to a charter granted by Archibald, Earl of Argyll.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name is Sir Alexander Macmillan, a 15th-century knight who fought alongside William Wallace during the Scottish Wars of Independence. Another notable figure is James Macmillan (1736-1809), a Scottish minister and writer who published several works on religious and philosophical topics.
In the literary world, Daniel Macmillan (1813-1857) was a Scottish publisher who founded the publishing house Macmillan Publishers in 1843. His nephew, Maurice Macmillan (1853-1936), later joined the company and became its chairman.
Other notable individuals with the MACMILLAN surname include British statesman Harold Macmillan (1894-1986), who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963, and Scottish composer Sir James Macmillan (born 1959), best known for his choral and orchestral works.
The MACMILLAN name has been well-established in Scotland for centuries and has spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration. It remains a prominent surname with a rich historical background rooted in the Scottish Highlands and the Clan MacMillan.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Macmillan
Among Census respondents with the surname Macmillan, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Macmillan 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 Macmillan surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 4,955
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 193
- Two or more races3.1% · 171
- Black or African American2.0% · 108
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Macmillan
Macmillan 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
#6,041
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,688
+135 bearers (+2.4%)
Per 100,000 1.93
Rank movement Down 316 places
2020
#6,026
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,482
-206 bearers (-3.6%)
Per 100,000 1.83
Rank movement Up 15 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,725 | 5,553 | 2.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,041 | 5,688 | 1.93 | +135 bearers (+2.4%) | Down 316 places |
| 2020 | #6,026 | 5,482 | 1.83 | -206 bearers (-3.6%) | Up 15 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 Macmillan 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 | #6,041 | #6,026 | 0.2% |
| Count | 5,688 | 5,482 | -3.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.93 | 1.83 | -5.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Macmillan bearers went from 5,688 to 5,482 (-3.6% change). The surname moved up 15 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,041 to #6,026.
FAQ
Macmillan surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Macmillan?
Name Census estimates that about 6,286 living Americans carry the surname Macmillan. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 54,527 residents.
How common is Macmillan?
Macmillan ranks #6,026 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.83 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,482 people with the surname Macmillan. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,286), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.83 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.83 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Macmillan.
Has Macmillan become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Macmillan went from 5,688 recorded bearers to 5,482. That is a decrease of 206 (-3.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,041 to #6,026.
What does the Census say about the background of Macmillan?
Among Census respondents with the surname Macmillan, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Macmillan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (4,955 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Macmillan appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Hispanic (3.5%), Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Macmillan (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 Macmillan mean?
Son of the bald or tonsured man, or devotee of Saint Maoláin. 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 Macmillan (1.83 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 have the surname Macmillan?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.