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

Mulhern, 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 Mulhern surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mulhern in America

Mulhern is the 10274th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mulhern surname appeared 3,138 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 Mulhern.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mulhern 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 Mulhern

The surname Mulhern originated in Ireland during the Middle Ages. It is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Maolchairn, which means "descendant of the devotee of St. Cairn." The name is rooted in the Irish language and culture, with Cairn being the name of an Irish saint.

The earliest recorded instances of this surname can be traced back to the 16th and 17th centuries in County Sligo, Ireland. The Mulhern family was prominent in this region, and the name appears in various historical documents and records from that time period.

One notable historical reference is the inclusion of the name in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the early 17th century. The Annals mention several individuals with the surname Mulhern, indicating their involvement in various events and conflicts during that era.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Mulhern surname began to spread beyond County Sligo as families migrated to other parts of Ireland and eventually to other countries. Some variations in spelling, such as Mulhearn and Mulheran, emerged during this time.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Mulhern. One example is John Mulhern (1834-1905), an Irish-American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York in the late 19th century.

Another prominent figure is Brendan Mulhern (1910-1987), an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the County Sligo team in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a key member of the team that won the Connacht Senior Football Championship in 1946.

In the literary world, Kathleen Mulhern (1915-2006) was an American author and poet known for her works exploring themes of nature, spirituality, and the human experience. Her poetry collections include "The Deer on the Altar" and "Passage to Avalon."

James Mulhern (1844-1925) was an Irish-born Australian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia in the late 19th century.

Finally, Michael Mulhern (1935-2020) was an Irish hurler who played for the Galway senior hurling team in the 1950s and 1960s. He won an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medal with Galway in 1958.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mulhern

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!