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

McKay, 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 McKay surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McKay in America

McKay is the 895th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McKay surname appeared 38,681 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 13 people would have the surname McKay.

We can also compare 2010 data for McKay 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 McKay

The surname MCKAY is of Scottish origin, derived from the Gaelic name "MacAidh" or "MacAidey", which means "son of Aodh" or "son of Hugh". The name Aodh itself is an old Gaelic personal name meaning "fire" or "flame". The prefix "Mac" in Scottish surnames means "son of".

The earliest recorded instances of the MCKAY surname can be traced back to the 13th century in the Scottish Highlands, particularly in areas such as Argyll, Inverness-shire, and the Western Isles. The name was prominent among the clans of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

In historical records, the surname appears in various spellings, including MacKay, MacKaye, Makkie, and Mackie. One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name is in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in 1263, where a person named "Ferchard Makki" is mentioned.

The MCKAY surname has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Iye Monache Makay, who was a member of the Parliament of Scotland in 1358.

Another prominent figure was Sir Donald MCKAY (1810-1880), a renowned Scottish-born shipbuilder and designer of clipper ships based in Boston, Massachusetts. He is credited with designing and building some of the fastest and most famous clipper ships of the 19th century, including the Sovereign of the Seas and the Stag Hound.

Robert MCKAY (1839-1909) was a Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Working Girls' Vacation Society, which provided vacation homes for underprivileged women and children in New York City.

In the field of literature, Claude MCKAY (1889-1948) was a Jamaican-American writer and poet who played a significant role in the Harlem Renaissance literary movement in the 1920s. His works, such as "If We Must Die" and "Harlem Shadows", explored themes of racial consciousness and social injustice.

Another notable bearer of the MCKAY surname was David MCKAY (1860-1918), a Canadian educator and politician who served as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1900 to 1904.

The MCKAY surname has also been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as Mackay's Castle in Sutherland and the village of Mackayville in Caithness.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McKay

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

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

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

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