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Surnames by county · Leinster

Most common surnames in County Meath

O'Reilly was the commonest surname in Co. Meath in 1911: 1,993 people, about one resident in 33. It was followed by Smith, Lynch, Farrelly and O'Brien.

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 O'Reilly 1,993 306 1 1
2 Smith 1,910 293 2 2
3 Lynch 1,015 156 3 3
4 Farrelly 749 115 4 5
5 O'Brien 742 114 5 6
6 Clarke 725 111 7 4
7 Kelly 650 100 6 8
8 Murray 644 99 11 10
9 Byrne 599 92 8 7
10 Farrell 593 91 10 11
11 Brady 585 90 9 9
12 Sheridan 447 69 12 16
13 Daly 433 66 13 14
14 Carolan 432 66 19 13
15 Maguire 414 64 14 12
16 Dunne 374 57 15 15
17 Martin 373 57 22 24
18 Duffy 371 57 20 19
19 Murphy 367 56 16 17
20 O'Connell 349 54 21 23
21 Mooney 337 52 25 20
22 Fox 334 51 18 21
23 O'Connor 330 51 17 18
24 Fitzsimons 319 49 23 27
25 Walsh 317 49 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 Meath

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

  1. O'Reilly 5.5× 1,993 people · 306 per 10,000
  2. Smith 4.02× 1,910 people · 293 per 10,000
  3. Lynch 3.88× 1,015 people · 156 per 10,000
  4. Brady 3.66× 585 people · 90 per 10,000
  5. Clarke 3.26× 725 people · 111 per 10,000
  6. Farrell 3.02× 593 people · 91 per 10,000
  7. Murray 2.4× 644 people · 99 per 10,000
  8. Maguire 2.19× 414 people · 64 per 10,000
  9. Ward 2.12× 297 people · 46 per 10,000
  10. Duffy 2.05× 371 people · 57 per 10,000

Questions about surnames in Meath

What is the most common surname in County Meath?

In the 1911 census the most common surname in Co. Meath was O'Reilly, with 1,993 people, or about one resident in 33. The next most common were Smith, Lynch, Farrelly and O'Brien. O'Reilly was still the commonest name in 1926.

Which surnames are most typical of County Meath?

Compared with Ireland as a whole, the names most over-represented in Co. Meath in 1911 (among the 100 commonest Irish surnames) were O'Reilly (5.5× the national rate), Smith (4.02× the national rate), Lynch (3.88× the national rate).

Ancestors from County Meath?

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

Meath records on irishcensus.com