Find out how popular the last name O'Conor 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'Conor.

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

Popularity of O'Conor in America

O'Conor is the 47186th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The O'Conor surname appeared 450 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname O'Conor.

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

The surname OCONOR originated in Ireland, with the earliest known records dating back to the 12th century. It is an Anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Conchubhair, which means "descendant of Conchubhar." Conchubhar is an ancient Irish personal name derived from the words "con," meaning hound or wolf, and "chubar," meaning desire or lust.

The OCONOR name has strong historical ties to the Kingdom of Connacht, an ancient Gaelic kingdom in the western part of Ireland. The O'Conors ruled as kings of Connacht from the 5th century until the 17th century. One of the most notable members of this dynasty was Toirdhealbhach Óg Ó Conchubhair (1088-1156), who was King of Connacht from 1106 to 1156.

In the Annals of the Four Masters, a medieval Irish chronicle, there are numerous references to individuals with the OCONOR surname. For example, the annals mention Aedh Ó Conchubhair, who was King of Connacht in the late 12th century, and Felim Ó Conchubhair, who was King of Connacht in the early 13th century.

Other notable individuals with the OCONOR surname include Charles O'Conor (1710-1791), an Irish lawyer and historian who was a prominent figure in the Irish Catholic Committee, and Arthur O'Connor (1763-1852), a prominent Irish revolutionary who was involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

The surname OCONOR has also appeared in various spellings throughout history, such as O'Conor, O'Connor, and Connor. Some notable place names associated with the name include Connaught (the anglicized version of Connacht), which was the ancient kingdom ruled by the O'Conors, and Roscommon, a county in the province of Connacht where the O'Conors had a strong presence.

During the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, many OCONOR families were dispossessed of their lands and forced to relocate to other parts of Ireland or abroad. This led to the spread of the surname beyond its original stronghold in Connacht.

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

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

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'Conor 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'Conor 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'Conor 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'Conor, please contact us.

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