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

MacArthur, 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 MacArthur surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of MacArthur in America

MacArthur is the 148347th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The MacArthur surname appeared 111 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 MacArthur.

We can also compare 2010 data for MacArthur 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 MacArthur

The surname McCarthur is of Scottish origin, first appearing in the 13th century in the western region of Scotland. It is derived from the Gaelic Mac Artair, meaning "son of Arthur". The name likely originated from the personal name Arthur, which was common among the Scottish clans.

In the 15th century, several records mention individuals bearing the McCarthur name, such as John McCarthur, a landowner in Argyll, Scotland, recorded in 1475. Another early record is that of William McCarthur, who was listed in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in 1502.

The McCarthur name has also been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as the village of McCarthur in Ayrshire, and McCarthur Hill in Renfrewshire. These place names may have influenced the spelling variations of the surname, including MacCarther, MacArthur, and McArthur.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the McCarthur surname was Sir John McCarthur (1537-1612), a Scottish nobleman who served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland under King James VI.

Another prominent McCarthur was General Sir John McCarthur (1789-1865), a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and later served as Governor of Cape Colony (present-day South Africa) from 1835 to 1837.

In the 19th century, Archibald McCarthur (1809-1887) was a Scottish-born merchant and landowner in Australia, who played a significant role in the early development of the wool industry in New South Wales.

Other notable individuals with the McCarthur surname include James McCarthur (1835-1927), a Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist who founded the McCarthur Foundation, and William McCarthur (1845-1923), a Scottish-born Canadian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons.

The McCarthur surname continues to be associated with Scotland and its Scottish diaspora, with many individuals bearing this name contributing to various fields throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name MacArthur

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of MacArthur, 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!