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

Macoy, 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 Macoy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Macoy in America

Macoy is the 99845th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Macoy surname appeared 181 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Macoy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Macoy 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 Macoy

The surname MACOY is believed to have originated in Scotland, specifically in the Scottish Highlands region, during the medieval period. It is thought to be a derivation of the Gaelic surname "MacAdhaimh," which translates to "son of Adam."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name MACOY can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a historical record of Scottish nobles and gentry who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. This document lists a certain "Gillebertus Macoy," indicating the presence of the surname in Scotland during the late 13th century.

In the 16th century, the name MACOY appeared in various Scottish records, including the Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, where a "John Makky" was mentioned in 1541. This spelling variation suggests the surname's evolution over time, potentially influenced by regional dialects and scribal interpretations.

The MACOY surname is also associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One such figure was Sir Robert Macoy (1570-1636), a Scottish military commander who fought in the Thirty Years' War and later served as the Governor of Königsberg (present-day Kaliningrad, Russia).

Another prominent bearer of the MACOY name was James Macoy (1720-1789), a renowned Scottish mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1760.

In the literary realm, the Scottish writer and poet Thomas Macoy (1792-1870) gained recognition for his works, including "The Lays of the Covenanters" and "The History of the Reformation in Scotland." His poems and historical writings shed light on the struggles of the Scottish Covenanters during the 17th century.

The MACOY surname has also been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as Macoy's Loch in Argyll and Bute, and Macoy's Burn in East Ayrshire. These geographical locations may have influenced the surname's spelling variations and regional associations.

It is worth noting that the name MACOY has undergone various spelling changes throughout history, including Mackay, Mackie, and Mackey, among others. These variations often reflect regional dialects, scribal interpretations, and the fluid nature of surname spellings in earlier periods.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Macoy

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

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

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

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