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Surnames by county · Leinster

Most common surnames in County Kilkenny

Walsh was the commonest surname in Co. Kilkenny in 1911: 3,065 people, about one resident in 24. It was followed by Brennan, Murphy, Ryan and Phelan.

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 Walsh 3,065 408 1 1
2 Brennan 1,888 252 3 2
3 Murphy 1,871 249 2 3
4 Ryan 1,440 192 4 4
5 Phelan 1,252 167 5 5
6 Kelly 1,088 145 6 6
7 Maher 916 122 8 10
8 Power 867 116 7 8
9 Butler 830 111 9 9
10 O'Neill 765 102 11 7
11 Byrne 736 98 10 11
12 Doyle 619 83 13 12
13 Dunne 612 82 12 17
14 Carroll 604 81 18 13
15 Dowling 584 78 19 14
16 O'Keeffe 561 75 14 15
17 O'Shea 547 73 15 18
18 O'Brien 546 73 23 19
19 Kennedy 538 72 17 23
20 Purcell 521 69 16 20
21 Nolan 515 69 20 16
22 Grace 513 68 21 21
23 Cody 439 59 22 29
24 Delaney 437 58 29 24
25 Burke 436 58 26 22

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 Kilkenny

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

  1. Brennan 7.55× 1,888 people · 252 per 10,000
  2. Maher 6.94× 916 people · 122 per 10,000
  3. Walsh 4.84× 3,065 people · 408 per 10,000
  4. Power 4.71× 867 people · 116 per 10,000
  5. O'Keeffe 4.2× 561 people · 75 per 10,000
  6. Hogan 3.08× 387 people · 52 per 10,000
  7. O'Shea 2.78× 547 people · 73 per 10,000
  8. Ryan 2.75× 1,440 people · 192 per 10,000
  9. O'Dwyer 2.65× 346 people · 46 per 10,000
  10. Dunne 2.59× 612 people · 82 per 10,000

Questions about surnames in Kilkenny

What is the most common surname in County Kilkenny?

In the 1911 census the most common surname in Co. Kilkenny was Walsh, with 3,065 people, or about one resident in 24. The next most common were Brennan, Murphy, Ryan and Phelan. Walsh was still the commonest name in 1926.

Which surnames are most typical of County Kilkenny?

Compared with Ireland as a whole, the names most over-represented in Co. Kilkenny in 1911 (among the 100 commonest Irish surnames) were Brennan (7.55× the national rate), Maher (6.94× the national rate), Walsh (4.84× the national rate).

Ancestors from County Kilkenny?

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

Kilkenny records on irishcensus.com