surnames.ie

Surnames by county · Munster

Most common surnames in County Waterford

Power was the commonest surname in Co. Waterford in 1911: 4,617 people, about one resident in 18. It was followed by Walsh, O'Brien, Murphy and Flynn.

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 Power 4,617 561 1 1
2 Walsh 2,630 319 2 2
3 O'Brien 1,499 182 3 3
4 Murphy 1,288 156 5 4
5 Flynn 1,228 149 4 5
6 McGrath 1,058 129 6 6
7 Fitzgerald 995 121 8 8
8 Ryan 992 121 7 7
9 Foley 873 106 9 9
10 Whelan 856 104 10 10
11 Phelan 790 96 11 12
12 Morrissey 779 95 12 11
13 O'Sullivan 664 81 15 15
14 Tobin 654 79 13 18
15 O'Neill 653 79 16 16
16 O'Connor 638 78 17 14
17 McCarthy 597 73 14 13
18 Kelly 584 71 18 19
19 Kiely 578 70 21 17
20 Kennedy 554 67 24 21
21 Keane 536 65 20 22
22 O'Keeffe 516 63 22 20
23 Burke 499 61 19 28
24 Murray 494 60 25 24
25 Barry 467 57 26 23

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 Waterford

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

  1. Power 22.87× 4,617 people · 561 per 10,000
  2. Whelan 5.5× 856 people · 104 per 10,000
  3. Foley 5.28× 873 people · 106 per 10,000
  4. McGrath 4.89× 1,058 people · 129 per 10,000
  5. Flynn 4.65× 1,228 people · 149 per 10,000
  6. Fitzgerald 4.16× 995 people · 121 per 10,000
  7. Walsh 3.78× 2,630 people · 319 per 10,000
  8. O'Keeffe 3.53× 516 people · 63 per 10,000
  9. Curran 3.2× 435 people · 53 per 10,000
  10. Keane 3.07× 536 people · 65 per 10,000

Questions about surnames in Waterford

What is the most common surname in County Waterford?

In the 1911 census the most common surname in Co. Waterford was Power, with 4,617 people, or about one resident in 18. The next most common were Walsh, O'Brien, Murphy and Flynn. Power was still the commonest name in 1926.

Which surnames are most typical of County Waterford?

Compared with Ireland as a whole, the names most over-represented in Co. Waterford in 1911 (among the 100 commonest Irish surnames) were Power (22.87× the national rate), Whelan (5.5× the national rate), Foley (5.28× the national rate).

Ancestors from County Waterford?

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

Waterford records on irishcensus.com