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

Meagher, 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 Meagher surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Meagher in America

Meagher is the 5951st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Meagher surname appeared 5,784 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Meagher.

We can also compare 2010 data for Meagher 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 Meagher

The surname Meagher is of Irish origin and can be traced back to the County Tipperary area of Ireland. It is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name "Ó Meachair", which means "descendant of Meachair". Meachair is derived from the word "meacair", meaning "hospitable" or "affable".

The name first appeared in historical records in the 12th century, when it was commonly spelled "O'Meagher". It is believed that the Meagher clan was originally based in the territory of Ikerrin, which was located in what is now County Tipperary. The Meaghers were a prominent family in this region and played a significant role in Irish history.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a "Meagher of Ikerrin" in the year 1200. The name also appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, another important source for Irish history, in the 14th century.

In the 16th century, during the Tudor conquest of Ireland, the Meagher clan was involved in several conflicts with the English forces. One notable figure from this period was Thomas Meagher, who led a rebellion against the English in 1548. He was eventually captured and executed.

Another famous bearer of the name was Thomas Francis Meagher (1823-1867), an Irish revolutionary and leader of the Young Irelanders. He was a prominent figure in the Irish Rebellion of 1848 and was later transported to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) as a convict. After his release, he emigrated to the United States and served as a Brigadier General in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Other notable Meaghers include William Meagher (1796-1874), an Irish politician and landowner, and John Francis Meagher (1824-1891), a Canadian businessman and politician who served as the first Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada.

The name Meagher has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Meaghers' Country, a region in County Tipperary, and Meagher's Fort, a historic site in County Cork.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Meagher

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

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

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

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