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

McCullough, 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 McCullough surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McCullough in America

McCullough is the 755th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McCullough surname appeared 45,852 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 16 people would have the surname McCullough.

We can also compare 2010 data for McCullough 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 McCullough

The surname McCullough is of Scottish origin, derived from the Gaelic Mac Lughaidh, meaning "son of Lughaidh." Lughaidh was a personal name derived from the Old Irish word lughaidh, meaning "poet" or "skilled in verse." The name is first recorded in Scotland in the 13th century.

The McCullough clan was historically centered in the counties of Antrim and Down in Northern Ireland. The earliest recorded spelling of the name was MacCulloch, which appeared in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a record of Scottish nobles who swore allegiance to Edward I of England.

One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Sir John McCullough, a Scottish knight who fought alongside Robert the Bruce in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the early 14th century. Another early figure was Hervey McCullough, a Scottish merchant who settled in Ulster, Ireland, in the late 16th century.

In the 17th century, the McCullough clan played a significant role in the Plantation of Ulster, a planned process of colonizing Ulster with Protestant settlers from Scotland and England. During this period, many McCulloughs established themselves as landowners and became influential in the region.

One of the most famous bearers of the name was Benjamin McCullough (1811-1862), an American businessman and politician who served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Another notable figure was Thomas McCullough (1776-1846), an Irish-American printer and newspaper publisher who co-founded the North American Trust and Banking Company in New York City.

Other historically significant individuals with the surname McCullough include:

1. James McCullough (1819-1893), an Irish-American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Maryland.
2. Hugh McCullough (1808-1895), an American banker and statesman who served as the 27th United States Secretary of the Treasury.
3. John McCullough (1837-1885), an American actor and stage manager known for his performances in Shakespearean plays.
4. Colleen McCullough (1937-2015), an Australian author best known for her novel "The Thorn Birds."
5. David McCullough (1933-2022), an American author and historian who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his biographies of Presidents Harry S. Truman and John Adams.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McCullough

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

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

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

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