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

Mulvey, 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 Mulvey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mulvey in America

Mulvey is the 8389th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mulvey surname appeared 3,945 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 Mulvey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mulvey 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 Mulvey

The surname Mulvey originated in Ireland and is derived from the Gaelic name Maolmhuaidh, which means "servant of the shaved one" or "tonsured one". This likely referred to a person who was a monk or a devotee of a particular saint.

The name first appeared in the Irish annals around the 11th century and was primarily found in the counties of Roscommon and Mayo. Early spellings of the name included Mulvey, Mulvy, Mulvie, and Mulvaye.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Annals of Ulster, which mention a Maolmhuaidh Ua Buighill, a monk who died in 1058. The Annals of the Four Masters also refer to a Maolmhuaidh Ua Lochlainn, who was the king of Cenél nEógain, a powerful dynasty in Ulster, in the 12th century.

The Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any references to the Mulvey name, as it was primarily an Irish surname.

Notable people with the Mulvey surname include:

1. John Mulvey (1892-1964), an Irish politician and member of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.
2. Charles Mulvey (1855-1931), an American businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin, from 1893 to 1895.
3. Michael Mulvey (born 1958), an American actor known for his roles in films such as "Bloodsport" and "Highlander".
4. Thomas Mulvey (1822-1892), an Irish-born American bishop who served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware.
5. James Mulvey (1923-2013), an American mathematician and professor at New York University, known for his contributions to the field of probability theory.

While the Mulvey name has its roots in Ireland, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, due to Irish immigration.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mulvey

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

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

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

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