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

McCane, 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 McCane surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McCane in America

McCane is the 20263rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McCane surname appeared 1,313 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 McCane.

We can also compare 2010 data for McCane 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 McCane

The surname McCane has its origins in Scotland, emerging sometime in the late Middle Ages around the 14th or 15th century. It is believed to be derived from the Gaelic name "Mac Cain" or "Mac Ayn," meaning "son of Cain" or "son of Ayn." The name Cain itself is derived from the ancient Celtic word "cain," meaning "beautiful" or "handsome."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name McCane can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a historic document that recorded the names of Scottish nobles and landowners who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England after his invasion of Scotland. The Ragman Rolls mention a "Gillecrist McKane" from the region of Ayrshire.

In the 16th century, the McCane name was particularly prevalent in the Scottish Highlands, particularly in the areas of Argyll and the Hebrides Islands. Historical records from this time period often refer to the McCanes as a clan or sept associated with the larger Clan Donald.

The earliest recorded individual bearing the McCane surname is believed to be Gilchrist McCane, who was born in the late 15th century and served as a retainer to the Lord of the Isles, a powerful Scottish noble family that ruled over much of the Hebrides Islands and parts of the western Scottish mainland.

Another notable McCane from history was Archibald McCane, a Scottish soldier who fought for the Royalist forces during the English Civil War in the 17th century. He was born in 1620 and died in 1685.

In the 18th century, the McCane surname began to spread beyond Scotland, with some bearers of the name emigrating to Ireland and North America. One such individual was James McCane, an Irish-born soldier who served in the American Revolutionary War and was present at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.

The 19th century saw the rise of several prominent individuals with the McCane surname, including John McCane, a Scottish-born businessman and entrepreneur who founded the McCane Distillery in Glasgow in 1835, and Robert McCane, a Scottish-American politician who served as the 12th Governor of Missouri from 1869 to 1873.

Throughout its history, the McCane surname has also been spelled in various ways, such as McKane, McKain, and McKeane, reflecting the fluid nature of surname spelling in earlier centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McCane

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

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

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

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