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Surnames by county · Munster

Most common surnames in County Clare

McMahon was the commonest surname in Co. Clare in 1911: 2,967 people, about one resident in 35. It was followed by McNamara, O'Brien, Kelly and Moloney.

Counts are people living in the county on census night, with spelling variants combined (Sullivan and O'Sullivan count as one name).

Donegal Waterford Dublin Kilkenny Carlow Limerick Louth Tipperary Roscommon Meath Wicklow Cavan Cork Clare Galway Mayo Sligo Leitrim Offaly Laois Kildare Kerry Monaghan Wexford Longford Westmeath Tyrone Antrim Armagh Fermanagh Londonderry Down

The 25 commonest names, 1911

#SurnamePeoplePer 10,00019011926
1 McMahon 2,967 284 1 1
2 McNamara 2,393 229 2 2
3 O'Brien 1,674 160 3 3
4 Kelly 1,481 142 4 4
5 Moloney 1,435 137 5 5
6 Keane 1,296 124 6 7
7 Ryan 1,233 118 7 6
8 McInerney 1,182 113 8 8
9 O'Connor 1,081 104 10 11
10 Lynch 1,027 98 9 10
11 Murphy 968 93 11 9
12 Hogan 868 83 12 12
13 Burke 791 76 14 13
14 Walsh 766 73 15 14
15 Halloran 764 73 13 15
16 Griffin 746 71 16 23
17 Moroney 729 70 25 18
18 Considine 727 70 19 19
19 O'Sullivan 684 66 20 27
20 Collins 675 65 17 17
21 O'Dea 675 65 18 24
22 Hayes 669 64 22 22
23 O'Neill 649 62 21 20
24 Clancy 645 62 29 26
25 Loughlin 633 61 27 16

The 1901 and 1926 columns give the name's rank in the county in that year; a dash means it was outside the top 40. Linked names have a full page with meaning, Irish forms and history.

Names most typical of Clare

Among the 100 commonest Irish surnames, these were the most over-represented in Co. Clare in 1911, compared with their share of Ireland's population as a whole.

  1. McNamara 13.93× 2,393 people · 229 per 10,000
  2. McMahon 13.02× 2,967 people · 284 per 10,000
  3. Keane 5.86× 1,296 people · 124 per 10,000
  4. Hogan 4.96× 868 people · 83 per 10,000
  5. Griffin 4.14× 746 people · 71 per 10,000
  6. Flanagan 3.09× 547 people · 52 per 10,000
  7. Hayes 2.85× 669 people · 64 per 10,000
  8. Lynch 2.45× 1,027 people · 98 per 10,000
  9. O'Brien 2.27× 1,674 people · 160 per 10,000
  10. McGrath 2.16× 594 people · 57 per 10,000

Questions about surnames in Clare

What is the most common surname in County Clare?

In the 1911 census the most common surname in Co. Clare was McMahon, with 2,967 people, or about one resident in 35. The next most common were McNamara, O'Brien, Kelly and Moloney. McMahon was still the commonest name in 1926.

Which surnames are most typical of County Clare?

Compared with Ireland as a whole, the names most over-represented in Co. Clare in 1911 (among the 100 commonest Irish surnames) were McNamara (13.93× the national rate), McMahon (13.02× the national rate), Keane (5.86× the national rate).

Ancestors from County Clare?

Browse every townland and household in Co. Clare in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses.

Clare records on irishcensus.com