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

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

Popularity of O'Meally in America

O'Meally is the 65244th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The O'Meally surname appeared 304 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'Meally.

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

The surname OMEALLY is of Irish origin, believed to have originated in County Sligo, Ireland in the 17th century. It is derived from the Gaelic personal name "O'Milidhghl" which means "descendant of the soldier".

This name is a variant of the more common Irish surname O'Malley, with the spelling variation likely arising from phonetic adaptations or scribal errors in historical records. The prefix "O'" indicates that the name belongs to one of the ancient Gaelic clans or families.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the OMEALLY surname can be found in the Fiants of the Reign of Elizabeth I, a collection of official records from the Tudor period, where it appears as "O'Muylie" in the late 16th century.

Another notable early reference is in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century, which mentions an "O'Milidhghl" as a member of a prominent Sligo family.

Among notable individuals bearing this surname is John OMEALLY (1829-1904), an Irish-born American politician who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and the United States House of Representatives in the late 19th century.

Patrick OMEALLY (1832-1912) was an Irish immigrant to the United States who became a successful businessman and philanthropist, founding the OMEALLY Orphanage in Boston in the late 19th century.

In the literary world, Mary OMEALLY (1884-1957) was an Irish poet and playwright whose works explored themes of Irish identity and culture in the early 20th century.

Another notable bearer of the name was Seamus OMEALLY (1912-1989), an Irish historian and academic who authored several influential works on the history of County Sligo and its prominent families.

Finally, Michael OMEALLY (1943-2021) was a renowned Irish artist and sculptor whose works were exhibited in galleries across Europe and the United States during the latter half of the 20th century.

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

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

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'Meally 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'Meally 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'Meally 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'Meally, please contact us.

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