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

McNair, 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 McNair surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McNair in America

McNair is the 2191st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McNair surname appeared 16,595 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname McNair.

We can also compare 2010 data for McNair 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 McNair

The surname McNair is of Scottish origin, derived from the Gaelic words "Mac" meaning "son of" and "Naomhair" meaning "the modest one" or "the holy one". This name likely originated in the Highlands region of Scotland in the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century.

The earliest recorded spelling of the name appears to be "MacNair" in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which were a series of homage rolls recorded during the Scottish Wars of Independence. This suggests that the name was already established in Scotland by the late 13th century.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was John McNair, who was a tenant farmer in the parish of Kilwinning, Ayrshire, in the mid-15th century. Another early record is of Robert McNair, who was a witness to a deed in Glasgow in 1488.

The McNair surname is also associated with several notable historical figures. One such figure was Sir Robert McNair (1775-1856), a British diplomat and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1832 to 1837.

Another notable McNair was John McNair (1854-1933), a Scottish-born American Presbyterian minister and educator who served as the fourth president of the College of Idaho from 1899 to 1907.

In the field of literature, one can mention William Watts McNair (1849-1939), an American writer and editor who was the author of several books, including "The Portent: A Story of the Inner Vision of the Highlanders" (1891).

Additionally, the McNair surname has been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as McNair's Hill in Renfrewshire and McNair's Knowe in Ayrshire, further reinforcing its Scottish roots.

Throughout history, the McNair surname has also been spelled in various ways, such as McNayr, MacNair, and McNeyr, reflecting regional variations and the evolution of spelling conventions over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McNair

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

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

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

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