2000
#4,692
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,907
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.56
Rare Last name
Mcdaniels
A patronymic surname of Scottish and Irish origin, meaning "son of Daniel."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,090 Americans carry the last name Mcdaniels. That puts it at #4,853 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.36 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 42,368 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mcdaniels 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
8.1K
1 in 42,368
Census rank
#4,853
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,055 bearers of the surname Mcdaniels in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.36 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4853rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mcdaniels, the largest self-reported group is White at 56.1%. The next largest groups are Black (33.3%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mcdaniels
The surname McDaniels has its origins in Scotland during the late medieval period. It is a patronymic name, meaning it was derived from the given name of an ancestor. In this case, McDaniels is a variant of the more common Scottish surname MacDonald, which itself comes from the Gaelic personal name Domhnall, meaning "world ruler" or "world mighty."
The prefix "Mc" or "Mac" in Scottish surnames indicates "son of." Therefore, McDaniels likely originated as a designation for the son of a man named Daniel or Donald. The earliest recorded instances of the name come from the 16th century, with spellings such as McDaniel, McDanield, and McDaniell appearing in various Scottish records and charters.
One notable early bearer of the name was Sir Alexander McDaniell, a Scottish knight who fought alongside Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Another early example is John McDaniel, a landowner in Ayrshire, Scotland, who is mentioned in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in 1489.
As the McDaniels family spread throughout Scotland and later to other parts of the British Isles, the name took on various spellings, such as McDaniel, McDanields, and McDaniells. The spelling McDaniels appears to have become more standardized in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the 18th century, a branch of the McDaniels family emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, settling in County Antrim. One notable member of this Irish branch was William McDaniels, a prominent merchant and landowner in Belfast in the late 1700s.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sir James McDaniell (1762-1837), a Scottish-born businessman and politician who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1818 to 1820. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded McDaniels was James McDaniels, who settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s.
Other notable individuals with the surname McDaniels include:
1. Rodney McDaniels (1938-1995), an American professional basketball player who played for the New York Knicks in the 1960s.
2. Susan McDaniels (born 1943), an American singer and actress best known for her role in the Broadway musical "Hair."
3. Jalen McDaniels (born 1998), an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA.
4. Gladys McDaniels (1918-2006), an American gospel singer and songwriter, and a member of the renowned McDaniels Sisters vocal group.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mcdaniels
Among Census respondents with the surname Mcdaniels, the largest self-reported group is White at 56.1%. The next largest groups are Black (33.3%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Mcdaniels 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 Mcdaniels surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.1% · 3,961
- Black or African American33.3% · 2,348
- Two or more races4.7% · 333
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 309
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 51
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mcdaniels
Mcdaniels 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
#4,858
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,256
+349 bearers (+5.1%)
Per 100,000 2.46
Rank movement Down 166 places
2020
#4,853
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,055
-201 bearers (-2.8%)
Per 100,000 2.36
Rank movement Up 5 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,692 | 6,907 | 2.56 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,858 | 7,256 | 2.46 | +349 bearers (+5.1%) | Down 166 places |
| 2020 | #4,853 | 7,055 | 2.36 | -201 bearers (-2.8%) | Up 5 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 Mcdaniels 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 | #4,858 | #4,853 | 0.1% |
| Count | 7,256 | 7,055 | -2.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.46 | 2.36 | -4.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mcdaniels bearers went from 7,256 to 7,055 (-2.8% change). The surname moved up 5 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,858 to #4,853.
FAQ
Mcdaniels surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mcdaniels?
Name Census estimates that about 8,090 living Americans carry the surname Mcdaniels. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 42,368 residents.
How common is Mcdaniels?
Mcdaniels ranks #4,853 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.36 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,055 people with the surname Mcdaniels. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,090), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.36 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.36 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Mcdaniels.
Has Mcdaniels become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mcdaniels went from 7,256 recorded bearers to 7,055. That is a decrease of 201 (-2.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #4,858 to #4,853.
What does the Census say about the background of Mcdaniels?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mcdaniels, the largest self-reported group is White at 56.1%. The next largest groups are Black (33.3%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Mcdaniels in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.1% (3,961 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mcdaniels appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (56.1%), Black (33.3%), Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Mcdaniels (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 Mcdaniels mean?
A patronymic surname of Scottish and Irish origin, meaning "son of Daniel." 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 Mcdaniels (2.36 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 surname Mcdaniels?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.