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

Sugrue, 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 Sugrue surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sugrue in America

Sugrue is the 21878th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sugrue surname appeared 1,187 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 Sugrue.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sugrue 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 Sugrue

The surname Sugrue is of Irish origin, originating from the Gaelic name "Ó Suagáin". It is believed to have first emerged in the 12th century in County Kerry, Ireland. The name is derived from the Irish word "suagán", meaning "little hawk" or "little valorous one".

The earliest recorded instance of the Sugrue name can be traced back to the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, where a chieftain named Muiris Ó Suagáin was mentioned in the year 1187. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by the late 12th century.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the Sugrue clan played a significant role in the history of County Kerry. They were among the prominent families that controlled large tracts of land in the region. The Sugrues were known for their involvement in local politics and their allegiance to the powerful McCarthy dynasty.

In the 16th century, the Sugrue name appeared in the Fiants of the Tudors, a collection of official documents from the Tudor period. Specifically, a man named Donnell Sugrue was granted land in County Kerry in 1595, indicating the family's continued prominence in the area.

One notable figure with the Sugrue surname was Seán Ó Suagáin, a 17th-century Irish poet and historian. He was born in County Kerry around 1620 and is renowned for his work "Leabhar na nGenealach" (The Book of Genealogies), which chronicled the histories of various Irish families.

Another prominent individual was Sir Richard Sugrue (1799-1876), an Irish-born lawyer and politician who served as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland. He was knighted in 1858 for his distinguished legal career.

In the 19th century, the Sugrue name appeared in several historical records, including the Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, which documented land ownership in the mid-1800s. Several Sugrue families were listed as landowners in County Kerry during this period.

A notable figure from this era was Thomas Sugrue (1836-1914), an Irish-American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1899 to 1901.

The Sugrue surname has also been associated with various place names in County Kerry, such as Sugrue's Cross, a townland located near Tralee.

Overall, the history of the Sugrue surname is deeply rooted in the Irish county of Kerry, where it has been a prominent name for centuries, with connections to local chieftains, poets, lawyers, and politicians.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sugrue

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

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

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