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

McCants, 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 McCants surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McCants in America

McCants is the 5542nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McCants surname appeared 6,270 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 McCants.

We can also compare 2010 data for McCants 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 McCants

The surname McCants is of Scottish origin and can be traced back to the 16th century. Its earliest known variant was McCance or McCants, which was derived from the Gaelic "Mac Anus" or "Mac Aonghuis," meaning "son of Angus." The name was most prevalent in the southwestern regions of Scotland, particularly in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.

In the 17th century, the McCants name appeared in several historical records, including the Scots Peerage, which mentioned a John McCance from Ayrshire in 1634. Around the same time, the name was also recorded in the Parish Registers of Kilwinning, Ayrshire, where a family of McCants lived in the late 1600s.

The earliest documented individual with the McCants surname was William McCants, born in Ayr, Scotland, in 1563. He was a merchant and landowner who played a role in the local affairs of his community.

In the 18th century, the name spread to other parts of the British Isles, including Ireland and England. One notable figure was Robert McCants, a Scottish-born merchant who settled in Dublin, Ireland, in the 1720s and established a successful trading company.

As the Industrial Revolution gained momentum, many McCants families migrated to urban centers in search of employment opportunities. One such individual was James McCants, born in Glasgow in 1789, who became a prominent textile manufacturer and philanthropist in Manchester, England.

In the 19th century, the McCants name also found its way to North America, with several individuals bearing this surname arriving as immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. Among them was John McCants, born in 1832 in County Antrim, Ireland, who settled in Virginia and became a respected farmer and community leader.

Another notable figure was Alexander McCants, born in 1828 in Ayrshire, Scotland. He emigrated to Canada in the mid-19th century and became a successful businessman and landowner in Ontario, contributing significantly to the development of the local community.

Throughout history, the McCants surname has been associated with various professions, including merchants, landowners, industrialists, and community leaders, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and experiences of those who carried this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McCants

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!