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

Shaughnessy, 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 Shaughnessy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shaughnessy in America

Shaughnessy is the 5672nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shaughnessy surname appeared 6,117 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 Shaughnessy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shaughnessy 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 Shaughnessy

The surname Shaughnessy is of Irish origin, originating in County Mayo and County Galway. It is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Seachnasaigh, which means "descendant of Seachnasach." Seachnasach is derived from the Old Irish word "seachnasach," meaning "prosperous" or "plentiful."

The name can be traced back to the 12th century in Ireland. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a Domhnall Ó Seachnasaigh in the year 1220.

In the 16th century, the Shaughnessy family held lands in the baronies of Carra and Erris in County Mayo. During this period, the name was also spelled as Shaughnessy, Shaughnesy, and Shaughnesie.

One of the earliest known Shaughnessy individuals was Conor Shaughnessy, who lived in County Mayo in the late 16th century. He was a prominent member of the clan and is mentioned in various historical records from that time.

In the 17th century, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, many members of the Shaughnessy family were displaced from their lands. Some fled to other parts of Ireland, while others emigrated to countries like France and Spain.

A notable figure from this period was Roderick Shaughnessy (c. 1630-1695), who served as a colonel in the Irish Brigade of the French Army under King Louis XIV. He fought in several battles during the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession.

In the 18th century, the Shaughnessy family began to spread more widely throughout Ireland and beyond. One prominent individual was Patrick Shaughnessy (1742-1826), an Irish-born Catholic priest who served as the first Bishop of Killaloe, County Clare.

Another notable Shaughnessy was Thomas Shaughnessy (1853-1923), a Canadian railway administrator who served as the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1899 to 1918. He was instrumental in the development of Canada's transcontinental railway system.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, many Shaughnessys emigrated from Ireland to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, where the name continues to be found today.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shaughnessy

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Shaughnessy, please contact us.

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