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

McCandless, 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 McCandless surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McCandless in America

McCandless is the 6576th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McCandless surname appeared 5,149 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 McCandless.

We can also compare 2010 data for McCandless 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 McCandless

The surname McCandless is of Scottish origin, derived from the Gaelic "Mac an Fhilidh" which means "son of the bard" or "son of the poet." This name originated in the Scottish Highlands during the medieval period, likely in the 13th or 14th century.

McCandless is a variant spelling of the original Gaelic name, with the prefix "Mac" meaning "son of" and the root word "Candless" or "Candlish" being an Anglicized version of "an Fhilidh." This name was typically given to the son of a professional poet or bard, who played an important role in Scottish clan culture as storytellers, historians, and advisors.

One of the earliest known references to the McCandless name can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from the 16th century, which recorded various clan members and their landholdings. The name was particularly prominent in the regions of Argyll and the Western Isles, where many bards and poets were associated with powerful clans.

In the 17th century, several McCandless individuals were recorded in the parish registers of Kilmory, Arran, and other areas of western Scotland. One notable figure was John McCandless, a poet and scholar who lived in the late 16th century and was known for his works in Gaelic and Latin.

During the Scottish Diaspora of the 18th and 19th centuries, many McCandless families emigrated from Scotland to various parts of the world, including North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Some prominent individuals with this surname include:

1. Henry McCandless (1788-1857), an Irish-American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

2. John McCandless (1835-1905), a Canadian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

3. William McCandless (1853-1920), an American businessman and politician who served as the 22nd Governor of Hawaii from 1918 to 1921.

4. Christine McCandless (1945-2015), an American author and environmental activist, best known for her book "Into the Wild," which chronicled the life and death of her son, Christopher McCandless.

5. Bruce McCandless II (1937-2017), a retired United States Navy officer and former NASA astronaut, who famously performed the first untethered spacewalk in 1984.

The McCandless name has retained its Scottish roots and continues to be associated with its historical ties to the bardic tradition and cultural heritage of the Scottish Highlands.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McCandless

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

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

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

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