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

McCulley, 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 McCulley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McCulley in America

McCulley is the 6269th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McCulley surname appeared 5,450 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 McCulley.

We can also compare 2010 data for McCulley 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 McCulley

The surname McCulley has its origins in Scotland, with records tracing it back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning "son of" and "collie," which was a nickname for someone with dark or swarthy complexion.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the parish records of Ayr, Scotland, where a John McCulley was listed in 1583. It is believed that the family may have originated from the region of Galloway, located in the southwestern part of Scotland.

In the 17th century, the McCulley surname appears in various historical documents, including the Hearth Tax Rolls of 1691, where a William McCulley is recorded as residing in the parish of Kirkmichael, Ayrshire.

A notable figure bearing the McCulley name was Sir Robert McCulley (1642-1708), a Scottish merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1692. He was knighted by King William III for his services to the Crown.

Another prominent McCulley was John McCulley (1758-1828), a Scottish-born American surveyor and cartographer who is credited with producing some of the earliest maps of the Ohio Territory and the state of Ohio.

In the 19th century, the surname gained prominence in the United States with the birth of John McCulley (1835-1895), a Confederate officer during the American Civil War who later became a successful businessman in Texas.

Another individual of note was William McCulley (1877-1961), an American author and screenwriter best known for creating the character of Zorro, the fictional masked vigilante. McCulley's works, including the novel "The Curse of Capistrano," helped popularize the Zorro legend.

Throughout history, variations in the spelling of the surname have been observed, such as McCully, McColley, and McColly, reflecting regional differences and phonetic adaptations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McCulley

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

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

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