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

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

Popularity of O'Driscoll in America

O'Driscoll is the 18068th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The O'Driscoll surname appeared 1,543 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'Driscoll.

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

The surname ODRISCOLL is of Irish origin, originating from the Gaelic Ó Driscoll, meaning "descendant of Driscoll". The name is derived from the old Gaelic personal name Driscoll, which is possibly a combination of the elements "driss" meaning "blackthorn" or "bramble" and "coll" meaning "mighty".

This surname first appeared in records in the 12th century, referring to an influential family from County Cork in the province of Munster, Ireland. The ODRISCOLLs were lords of the territory of Corca Laidhe, located in the western part of County Cork.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of Innisfallen, which mention Cormac ODRISCOLL in 1151. This medieval Irish chronicle also references the death of Diarmiut ODRISCOLL in 1207.

The ODRISCOLL name is associated with several historical figures, including Conor ODRISCOLL (c. 1347-1426), who served as Lord of Corca Laidhe and played a significant role in the Irish struggles against English rule. Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Fineen ODRISCOLL (c. 1560-1629), a prominent Irish landowner and soldier who fought for the Spanish against the English.

In the 16th century, the ODRISCOLL family's power and influence declined due to their involvement in the Desmond Rebellions against the English crown. However, the name continued to be prominent in County Cork and other parts of Ireland.

Other notable ODRISCOLLs throughout history include Admiral William Lewis ODRISCOLL (1786-1847), a British naval officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars, and John ODRISCOLL (1733-1808), an Irish-born British soldier and politician who served as a member of the British Parliament.

The ODRISCOLL surname has also been recorded with various spellings over time, such as O'Driscoll, O'Driscolh, and O'Driscole, reflecting the linguistic evolution and regional variations within Ireland.

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

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

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'Driscoll 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'Driscoll 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'Driscoll 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'Driscoll, 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!