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

McClellon, 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 McClellon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McClellon in America

McClellon is the 84136th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McClellon surname appeared 223 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 McClellon.

We can also compare 2010 data for McClellon 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 McClellon

The surname McClellon is of Scottish origin, deriving from the Gaelic Mac Leathainn, which means "son of the half-flat nose" or "son of the battered man". The name is believed to have originated in the Scottish Highlands during the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from the late 13th century, where a Alan McClellon is mentioned as a landowner in Argyllshire. This suggests that the McClellon family was established among the Scottish nobility during this time.

The McClellon name is also found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a collection of homage sworn by Scottish nobles to King Edward I of England. This document includes several individuals with variations of the spelling, such as Maclellane and Maklellane.

In the 16th century, the McClellon family is recorded as having been prominent in the Scottish Borders region, particularly around Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire. It is possible that the name is connected to place names in these areas, such as the village of Clellanden or the lands of Cleland.

Notable individuals bearing the McClellon surname include:

1. John McClellon (c.1570-1640), a Scottish minister and theologian who served as the Principal of the University of Glasgow.
2. Alexander McClellon (1695-1775), a Scottish soldier who fought in the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and later emigrated to America.
3. Mary McClellon (1836-1921), a Scottish-born American educator and advocate for women's rights, who founded the McClellon Seminary for Young Ladies in New York.
4. James McClellon (1853-1932), a Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist, who made his fortune in the steel industry and founded the McClellon Foundation.
5. Robert McClellon (1907-1994), a Scottish-American author and historian, best known for his critically acclaimed biographies of historical figures such as Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots.

While the McClellon name has its roots in Scotland, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through Scottish immigration to North America and other British colonies.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McClellon

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

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

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

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