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

Mallon, 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 Mallon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mallon in America

Mallon is the 6531st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mallon surname appeared 5,188 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 Mallon.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mallon 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 Mallon

The surname Mallon is believed to have originated in Ireland. It is derived from the Gaelic personal name "Maolán," which means "bald" or "tonsured person." The name likely referred to a monk or someone who had taken religious orders.

Mallon is an Anglicized version of the Gaelic surname Ó Maoláin, which means "descendant of Maolán." The name can be traced back to County Donegal in Ulster, where it was particularly prevalent in the Barony of Raphoe.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mallon can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. It mentions a "Maolán Ó Máille" who was killed in 1185 during a battle between rival Irish clans.

In the 16th century, the Mallon family held lands in the parish of Taughboyne, County Donegal. During the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century, many Mallons were displaced from their ancestral lands as English and Scottish settlers arrived in the region.

Notable individuals with the surname Mallon include:

1. James Mallon (1799-1877), an Irish-born American politician who served as the 11th Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland.
2. Therese Mallon (1901-1945), an Irish actress and singer who performed in London's West End and on Broadway.
3. Michael Mallon (1934-2020), an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Donegal senior team and won an All-Ireland medal in 1963.
4. Jim Mallon (born 1948), an American professional golfer who won the 1983 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic on the PGA Tour.
5. Seamus Mallon (1936-2020), an Irish politician who served as the Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and was a prominent figure during the Northern Ireland peace process.

The surname Mallon has been found in various spellings throughout history, including Mallen, Mallone, and Malloon, reflecting the phonetic variations in different regions of Ireland and beyond.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mallon

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

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

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

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