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Surnames by county · Leinster

Most common surnames in County Laois

Dunne was the commonest surname in Co. Laois in 1911: 1,569 people, about one resident in 35. It was followed by Delaney, Phelan, Fitzpatrick and Kelly.

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 Dunne 1,569 287 1 1
2 Delaney 1,241 227 4 2
3 Phelan 1,087 199 2 3
4 Fitzpatrick 919 168 3 4
5 Kelly 891 163 6 5
6 Whelan 866 158 5 7
7 Conroy 804 147 7 6
8 Brennan 716 131 8 8
9 Byrne 640 117 10 9
10 McEvoy 637 116 9 10
11 Ryan 606 111 16 13
12 Carroll 568 104 12 11
13 Murphy 549 100 14 12
14 Moore 545 100 11 15
15 Dowling 528 97 19 18
16 Lalor 518 95 13 17
17 Bergin 504 92 15 16
18 Maher 502 92 17 14
19 Walsh 478 87 18 19
20 Kavanagh 453 83 20 20
21 Nolan 387 71 23 23
22 Dooley 370 68 25 25
23 McDonald 365 67 29 26
24 O'Connor 352 64 22 21
25 Brophy 340 62 24 24

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 Laois

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

  1. Dunne 9.1× 1,569 people · 287 per 10,000
  2. Whelan 8.37× 866 people · 158 per 10,000
  3. Fitzpatrick 7.66× 919 people · 168 per 10,000
  4. Maher 5.22× 502 people · 92 per 10,000
  5. Brennan 3.93× 716 people · 131 per 10,000
  6. McDonald 3.76× 365 people · 67 per 10,000
  7. Kavanagh 3.59× 453 people · 83 per 10,000
  8. Carroll 3.16× 568 people · 104 per 10,000
  9. Moore 2.84× 545 people · 100 per 10,000
  10. Nolan 2.62× 387 people · 71 per 10,000

Questions about surnames in Laois

What is the most common surname in County Laois?

In the 1911 census the most common surname in Co. Laois was Dunne, with 1,569 people, or about one resident in 35. The next most common were Delaney, Phelan, Fitzpatrick and Kelly. Dunne was still the commonest name in 1926.

Which surnames are most typical of County Laois?

Compared with Ireland as a whole, the names most over-represented in Co. Laois in 1911 (among the 100 commonest Irish surnames) were Dunne (9.1× the national rate), Whelan (8.37× the national rate), Fitzpatrick (7.66× the national rate).

Ancestors from County Laois?

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

Laois records on irishcensus.com