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

Rigney, 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 Rigney surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rigney in America

Rigney is the 7203rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rigney surname appeared 4,637 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Rigney.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rigney 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 Rigney

The surname Rigney is believed to have originated in Ireland, deriving from the Gaelic Ó Riannaigh, meaning "descendant of Rianach." Rianach is an old Irish personal name, possibly derived from the word "rianach," meaning "furrowed" or "wrinkled."

Rigney is an anglicized version of the original Irish name, which was adapted during the 17th and 18th centuries when many Irish families adopted English spellings for their surnames. The earliest recorded instance of the name Rigney can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the early 17th century.

One notable historical figure with the surname Rigney was Patrick Rigney, an Irish Franciscan friar born in County Leitrim in 1598. He was a prominent Catholic scholar and author, known for his work "The Convict's Guide," published in 1629. This book provided advice and guidance to Irish Catholics during the period of religious persecution under English rule.

Another early record of the name can be found in the Hearth Money Rolls of 1663-1665, a tax record from the reign of King Charles II. The Rolls list several Rigney families residing in counties such as Tipperary, Laois, and Kilkenny, suggesting that the name was well-established in various parts of Ireland by the mid-17th century.

In the 18th century, Arthur Rigney (1711-1780) was a prominent Irish landowner and member of the Irish House of Commons, representing County Longford. He was known for his support of Catholic relief efforts and his opposition to the penal laws that discriminated against Irish Catholics.

Moving into the 19th century, James Rigney (1823-1899) was an Irish-American journalist and author who founded the popular magazine "The Irish Race" in New York City. His work aimed to promote Irish culture and identity among the growing Irish-American community.

Another notable figure was Michael Rigney (1876-1954), an Irish-born American businessman and philanthropist. He founded the Rigney Trucking Company in Chicago, which became one of the largest trucking firms in the United States during the early 20th century. Rigney was also a prominent supporter of Irish cultural organizations and charities in Chicago.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rigney

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Rigney.

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 Rigney 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 Rigney 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 Rigney was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Rigney, 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!