2000
#12,277
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,323
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.86
Rare Last name
Mccullar
A Scottish or Irish occupational surname referring to a person who shapes or molds wood.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,432 Americans carry the last name Mccullar. That puts it at #13,676 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 140,935 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mccullar surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 140,935
Census rank
#13,676
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,121 bearers of the surname Mccullar in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13676th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mccullar, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (5.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mccullar
The surname McCullar has its origins in Scotland, dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word "Mac Uilleathair," which translates to "son of the woolly-haired one." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a descriptive nickname to someone with curly or wooly hair.
The earliest recorded instances of the McCullar surname can be found in the Parish registers of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, Scotland. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John McCullar, who was born in Ayr in 1587. Another notable early McCullar was Robert McCullar, a merchant from Glasgow, who was mentioned in the Burgh Records of the city in 1612.
The name has also been found in various spellings throughout history, including McCulloch, McCullough, and McCullock. These variations likely arose due to the inconsistencies in record-keeping and the phonetic transcription of the name by scribes and clerks.
In the 17th century, the McCullar name appeared in the Bute Baronetcy, a Scottish feudal baronial title. Sir Dugald McCullar of Arnol was the first to hold this title, and it remained in the family until the early 19th century.
As the McCullar clan spread throughout Scotland and beyond, the name can be found in various historical records. One notable figure was James McCullar, a Scottish Covenanter who was executed in Edinburgh in 1684 for his religious beliefs during the Killing Times.
Another prominent McCullar was John McCullar, a Scottish-born merchant and landowner who settled in Virginia in the late 17th century. He played a significant role in the establishment of the tobacco trade in the colony and was granted large tracts of land for his contributions.
In the 19th century, Alexander McCullar, a Scottish businessman, gained fame for his involvement in the development of the textile industry in Paisley, Scotland. He was also a philanthropist and contributed to the establishment of several educational institutions in the region.
Other notable individuals with the McCullar surname include William McCullar, a Scottish-born soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War, and Robert McCullar, a renowned architect from Edinburgh who designed several notable buildings in the city in the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mccullar
Among Census respondents with the surname Mccullar, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (5.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Mccullar bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Mccullar surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.7% · 1,542
- Black or African American16.5% · 349
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 113
- Two or more races3.7% · 78
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mccullar
Mccullar appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#12,789
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,412
+89 bearers (+3.8%)
Per 100,000 0.82
Rank movement Down 512 places
2020
#13,676
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,121
-291 bearers (-12.1%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Down 887 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,277 | 2,323 | 0.86 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,789 | 2,412 | 0.82 | +89 bearers (+3.8%) | Down 512 places |
| 2020 | #13,676 | 2,121 | 0.71 | -291 bearers (-12.1%) | Down 887 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Mccullar surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,789 | #13,676 | -6.9% |
| Count | 2,412 | 2,121 | -12.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.82 | 0.71 | -13.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mccullar bearers went from 2,412 to 2,121 (-12.1% change). The surname moved down 887 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,789 to #13,676.
FAQ
Mccullar surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mccullar?
Name Census estimates that about 2,432 living Americans carry the surname Mccullar. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 140,935 residents.
How common is Mccullar?
Mccullar ranks #13,676 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,121 people with the surname Mccullar. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,432), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Mccullar.
Has Mccullar become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mccullar went from 2,412 recorded bearers to 2,121. That is a decrease of 291 (-12.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,789 to #13,676.
What does the Census say about the background of Mccullar?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mccullar, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (5.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Mccullar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (1,542 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mccullar appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (72.7%), Black (16.5%), Hispanic (5.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Mccullar (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Mccullar mean?
A Scottish or Irish occupational surname referring to a person who shapes or molds wood. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Mccullar (0.71 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Mccullar?
Find out how many people have the last name Mccullar on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.