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

McNaughton, 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 McNaughton surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McNaughton in America

McNaughton is the 7744th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McNaughton surname appeared 4,287 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname McNaughton.

We can also compare 2010 data for McNaughton 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 McNaughton

The surname McNaughton has its origins in Scotland, first appearing in the late 12th century. It is derived from the Gaelic words "Naughtan" meaning "little poor one" or "little bare one". The prefix "Mac" translates to "son of", indicating the name originally referred to the son of someone named Naughtan.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in the Ragman Rolls, a collection of homage rolls recording those who swore fealty to King Edward I of England. It was also found in the Black Book of Taymouth, a 16th century manuscript recording land charters and genealogies of Scottish clans.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to 1296, with Andrew McNachtan appearing in the Ragman Rolls. The name has also been spelled as McNaughton, McNaghten, McNaughten, and McNauchtan throughout history.

The McNaughtons were a prominent Scottish clan based in Argyllshire and were closely associated with the powerful Campbell clan. During the Wars of Scottish Independence, they supported Robert the Bruce, with John McNaughton being recorded as one of his supporters in 1320.

In the 16th century, Sir John McNaughton of Beuchanside was a notable member of the clan, serving as a judge and legal advisor to King James VI of Scotland. Another prominent figure was Sir Francis McNaughton (1589-1674), a Scottish soldier and landowner who fought for the Covenanters during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

Other notable individuals with the surname include Sir William McNaughton (1825-1915), a British colonial administrator in India and author of several books on Indian history and politics, and John McNaughton (1835-1914), a Canadian politician and businessman who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

In the United States, Andrew McNaughton (1925-2014) was a respected mathematician and statistician, known for his contributions to the field of stochastic processes and his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McNaughton

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

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

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

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