2000
#140,756
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Ohearne
An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó hÉireamhóin, meaning "descendant of Éireamhón".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 124 Americans carry the last name Ohearne. That puts it at #150,935 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,764,148 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ohearne surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
124
1 in 2,764,148
Census rank
#150,935
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
108
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 108 bearers of the surname Ohearne in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150935th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ohearne, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ohearne
The surname OHEARNE originated in Ireland, tracing its roots back to the medieval period. It is a variant spelling of the Irish Gaelic surname Ó hEachthigheirn, which means "descendant of Eachthighern." Eachthighern was a personal name derived from the Gaelic elements "each" (horse) and "tighern" (lord), suggesting the name may have referred to a horse lord or a lord of horses.
OHEARNE is among the many anglicized forms of this ancient Irish surname, which also appeared as O'Hearn, O'Herne, Herne, and Hearn. The prefix "O" in the original Gaelic form indicates it was a patronymic surname, designating the bearer as a descendant of the progenitor Eachthighern.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the OHEARNE surname is found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The annals mention an individual named Eachthighern O'Hearn who lived in the 12th century and was a notable figure in County Sligo.
In the 16th century, a prominent bearer of the OHEARNE name was Patrick Ohearne, a Irish nobleman and landowner in County Galway. He is mentioned in the Composition Book of Connacht, a 1585 survey of land ownership in the western province of Connacht.
During the 17th century, the OHEARNE surname spread beyond Ireland as many Irish families were displaced due to the Cromwellian conquest and the subsequent Williamite War. In 1690, a John Ohearne from County Clare was among the Irish soldiers who fought for the Jacobite cause at the Battle of the Boyne.
In the 18th century, a notable figure was Cornelius Ohearne (1712-1778), an Irish Catholic priest who served as the Bishop of Dromore from 1768 until his death. He was a staunch defender of Catholic rights during the Penal Laws era in Ireland.
Another prominent OHEARNE was James Ohearne (1823-1901), a 19th-century Irish nationalist and member of the Young Ireland movement. He was a close associate of William Smith O'Brien and was involved in the failed 1848 rebellion against British rule in Ireland.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ohearne
Among Census respondents with the surname Ohearne, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Ohearne bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Ohearne surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.0% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 4
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ohearne
Ohearne appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#139,228
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
+11 bearers (+10.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 1,528 places
2020
#150,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-12 bearers (-10.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,707 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #140,756 | 109 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #139,228 | 120 | 0.04 | +11 bearers (+10.1%) | Up 1,528 places |
| 2020 | #150,935 | 108 | 0.04 | -12 bearers (-10.0%) | Down 11,707 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Ohearne surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #139,228 | #150,935 | -8.4% |
| Count | 120 | 108 | -10.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ohearne bearers went from 120 to 108 (-10.0% change). The surname moved down 11,707 positions in the national ranking, going from #139,228 to #150,935.
FAQ
Ohearne surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ohearne?
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the surname Ohearne. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,764,148 residents.
How common is Ohearne?
Ohearne ranks #150,935 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 108 people with the surname Ohearne. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (124), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Ohearne.
Has Ohearne become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ohearne went from 120 recorded bearers to 108. That is a decrease of 12 (-10.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #139,228 to #150,935.
What does the Census say about the background of Ohearne?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ohearne, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Ohearne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ohearne appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.0%), Hispanic (7.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Ohearne (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Ohearne mean?
An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó hÉireamhóin, meaning "descendant of Éireamhón". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Ohearne (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Ohearne?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.