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

O'Bryant, 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 O'Bryant surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of O'Bryant in America

O'Bryant is the 8283rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The O'Bryant surname appeared 4,001 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 O'Bryant.

We can also compare 2010 data for O'Bryant 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 O'Bryant

The surname OBRYANT is believed to have its origins in Ireland, where it first emerged in the medieval period. It is a variant of the more common Irish surname O'Bryant, which itself is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó Brógánaigh. This name is derived from the word "bróg," meaning "shoe," and the suffix "ánaigh," indicating a descendant or member of a clan.

The earliest recorded instances of the OBRYANT surname can be found in various Irish historical records and manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries. One such example is the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a notable figure named Aodh Ó Brógánaigh in the year 1305.

In the 16th century, the OBRYANT name appears in the Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns, a collection of official documents from the Irish Chancery. This record includes a reference to a landowner named Patrick O'Bryant in County Westmeath in 1585.

As the surname spread beyond Ireland, it took on various spellings and variations, including Obryant, Obriant, and O'Bryant. One notable bearer of this name was William Obriant, an English playwright and poet who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Another influential figure with the OBRYANT surname was John O'Bryant (1705-1783), an Irish-American patriot and merchant who played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Boston Committee of Correspondence and served as a colonel in the Massachusetts militia.

In the 19th century, the OBRYANT name gained prominence in literary circles with the birth of William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), a renowned American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.

Other notable individuals with the OBRYANT surname include Cleo O'Bryant (1902-1998), an American jazz drummer and bandleader; Kiki O'Bryant (born 1979), an American former professional basketball player; and Delight O'Bryant (1918-2012), an American author and educator.

While the OBRYANT surname has its roots in Ireland, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly the United States and Canada, where many descendants of Irish immigrants now reside.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name O'Bryant

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname O'Bryant.

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 O'Bryant 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 O'Bryant 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 O'Bryant was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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