2000
#3,707
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,788
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.26
Rare Last name
Mcvey
Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha, meaning "son of Aodh," a personal name meaning "fire" or "fiery one."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,644 Americans carry the last name Mcvey. That puts it at #4,091 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 35,541 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mcvey 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Mcvey with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.6K
1 in 35,541
Census rank
#4,091
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,410 bearers of the surname Mcvey in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4091st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mcvey, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mcvey
The surname MCVEY is believed to have originated in Ireland, tracing its roots back to the early 17th century. It is thought to be a variant of the more common Irish surname McVeigh, derived from the Gaelic name Mac Bheatha, meaning "son of Bheatha."
MCVEY is a patronymic surname, indicating that the name was originally formed by adding the prefix "Mac" (meaning "son of") to the personal name Bheatha. This practice of creating surnames from a father's given name was common in Ireland and Scotland during the medieval period.
Some of the earliest recorded instances of the MCVEY surname can be found in Irish census records from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The name was particularly prevalent in County Armagh and County Tyrone in Ulster, where many families bearing the name resided.
One notable historical figure with the surname MCVEY was John McVey, an Irish-born soldier who served in the American Revolutionary War. Born in County Armagh around 1755, McVey fought alongside the Continental Army and was present at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, which effectively ended the war.
Another prominent individual with the MCVEY surname was James McVey, a Scottish-born railway engineer who lived from 1815 to 1896. He played a crucial role in the construction of several major railway lines in Scotland and England during the 19th century, including the Glasgow and South Western Railway.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the MCVEY surname can be found in the marriage records of Baltimore, Maryland, where a John McVey married Mary Dunn in 1818. This suggests that Irish immigrants bearing the MCVEY name had already begun settling in America by the early 19th century.
Another notable American with the MCVEY surname was Patrick McVey, a lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as a United States Congressman from 1873 to 1875. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1828 and later immigrated to the United States.
In more recent history, one of the most famous individuals with the MCVEY surname was Edna McVey, an American educator and psychologist who lived from 1888 to 1976. She was a pioneer in the field of child psychology and served as the director of the famous Gesell Institute of Child Development in New Haven, Connecticut.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mcvey
Among Census respondents with the surname Mcvey, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Mcvey 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 Mcvey surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 7,628
- Two or more races3.4% · 288
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 266
- Black or African American1.6% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 41
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mcvey
Mcvey 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
#4,018
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,848
+60 bearers (+0.7%)
Per 100,000 3.00
Rank movement Down 311 places
2020
#4,091
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,410
-438 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 2.81
Rank movement Down 73 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,707 | 8,788 | 3.26 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,018 | 8,848 | 3.00 | +60 bearers (+0.7%) | Down 311 places |
| 2020 | #4,091 | 8,410 | 2.81 | -438 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 73 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 Mcvey 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 | #4,018 | #4,091 | -1.8% |
| Count | 8,848 | 8,410 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 3.00 | 2.81 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mcvey bearers went from 8,848 to 8,410 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 73 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,018 to #4,091.
FAQ
Mcvey surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mcvey?
Name Census estimates that about 9,644 living Americans carry the surname Mcvey. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 35,541 residents.
How common is Mcvey?
Mcvey ranks #4,091 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.81 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 8,410 people with the surname Mcvey. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,644), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.81 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Mcvey.
Has Mcvey become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mcvey went from 8,848 recorded bearers to 8,410. That is a decrease of 438 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,018 to #4,091.
What does the Census say about the background of Mcvey?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mcvey, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Mcvey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (7,628 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mcvey appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Mcvey (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 Mcvey mean?
Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha, meaning "son of Aodh," a personal name meaning "fire" or "fiery one." 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 Mcvey (2.81 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 Americans have the surname Mcvey?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.