Find out how popular the last name McCartan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named McCartan.
An Irish surname derived from the Gaelic surname "Mac Artáin" meaning "son of Artán".
McCartan, 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 McCartan surname is from the 2010 census data.
McCartan is the 32900th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The McCartan surname appeared 697 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 McCartan.
We can also compare 2010 data for McCartan 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.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 32900 | 31884 | 3.14% |
| Count | 697 | 684 | 1.88% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.24 | 0.25 | -4.08% |
The surname McCartan is of Irish origin, originating in the ancient region of Ulster in the northern part of Ireland. It is believed to have first emerged in the 11th or 12th century.
The name is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic name "Mac Artan" or "Mac Artáin", which means "son of Artan". Artan was a personal name derived from the Irish word "art", meaning bear or supernatural being.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a "Gilla Críst Mac Artáin" who was killed in 1099 during a conflict between rival Irish clans.
In the 13th century, a branch of the McCartan clan established itself in County Down, where they held lands and built castles near the town of Newry. A notable figure from this era was Sir Rory McCartan, who fought alongside King Edward Bruce of Scotland during the Irish campaigns of the Scottish War of Independence in the early 14th century.
Another early record of the name can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, which mention a "Donnchadh Mac Artain" who was a distinguished Irish poet and scholar in the 15th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the McCartans were among the many Irish families who lost their lands during the Plantation of Ulster, a colonial policy implemented by the English Crown to settle Protestant settlers from Great Britain in Ireland. Some McCartans were forced to seek refuge in other parts of Ireland or abroad.
In more recent history, notable individuals with the surname McCartan include:
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname McCartan.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for McCartan was:
| Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic White Only | 95.55% | 666 |
| Non-Hispanic Black Only | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.72% | 5 |
| Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 0.86% | 6 |
| Hispanic Origin | 2.44% | 17 |
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 McCartan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 95.55% | 97.22% | -1.73% |
| Black | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | 0.00% | (S)% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.72% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Two or More Races | 0.86% | 1.02% | -17.02% |
| Hispanic | 2.44% | 1.32% | 59.57% |
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 McCartan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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