McNamara Surname

9,327th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 60,732 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Ireland

McNamara Surname Definition:

(Celtic) Son OF Cumara = Hound of the Sea (prob. denoting a skilful sailor) [Irish and Gaelic Mac Conmara-mac, son + con, genit. of cú, a hound + mara, genit. of muir, the sea]

Read More About This Surname

McNamara Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States37,2831:9,7221,174
Australia13,2421:2,039261
England7,7791:7,1631,043
Ireland7,7201:610102
Canada3,5311:10,4351,561
New Zealand1,1921:3,799606
South Africa8591:63,0717,932
Scotland7641:7,0081,078
Wales4151:7,457832
Northern Ireland3361:5,4911,029
Thailand1131:625,118105,836
Argentina841:508,85037,434
France841:790,74795,785
Singapore641:86,0583,478
Germany521:1,548,18292,602
Mexico381:3,266,47923,844
Sweden361:273,52118,976
Spain261:1,798,15550,469
India211:36,526,923420,161
Brazil201:10,703,717220,519
Zimbabwe201:771,91253,776
Qatar191:124,10514,725
Saint Lucia191:9,4101,001
Switzerland191:432,25931,718
Malta181:23,9041,289
Netherlands171:993,36365,241
Jersey151:6,6131,336
Papua New Guinea141:582,40870,330
Hong Kong141:523,9633,360
Hungary121:818,02342,199
United Arab Emirates121:763,52325,625
Japan121:10,653,69145,407
Italy111:5,559,699110,230
Malaysia111:2,681,293102,971
Norway101:514,22941,629
Philippines101:10,123,822213,993
Isle of Man101:8,5821,778
China91:151,924,6187,954
Estonia81:165,22626,217
Chile61:2,936,07935,997
Russia61:24,020,509493,300
Denmark51:1,128,94352,970
Israel51:1,711,52784,568
United States Virgin Islands51:22,0752,767
Indonesia51:26,449,839597,308
Portugal41:2,604,56016,079
Trinidad and Tobago41:340,99412,383
Egypt41:22,983,93862,368
South Korea41:12,810,0642,073
Belgium41:2,874,161111,046
Vanuatu41:65,8191,151
Saudi Arabia41:7,713,95437,548
Laos41:1,647,081888
Morocco41:8,619,02573,251
Namibia41:602,35012,421
Monaco31:12,3552,088
Norfolk Island31:765177
Finland21:2,748,35172,663
Taiwan21:11,722,37363,559
Turkey21:38,910,711171,901
Cyprus21:442,4389,493
Vietnam21:46,323,0275,235
Barbados21:143,7241,981
Greece21:5,539,895129,142
Panama21:1,956,12915,285
Czechia21:5,316,734169,646
Austria21:4,257,71899,224
Belarus11:9,501,059159,228
Bahamas11:391,7512,737
British Virgin Islands11:31,5941,029
Afghanistan11:32,153,18360,828
Dominica11:75,891912
Dominican Republic11:10,432,93236,508
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
Solomon Islands11:580,02922,243
Slovakia11:5,336,450140,422
Lebanon11:5,637,08332,436
Bermuda11:65,2793,010
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines11:112,6591,704
Romania11:20,077,87089,414
Fiji11:894,3914,568
Ghana11:27,020,69223,742
Honduras11:8,816,4429,272
Mongolia11:2,825,28917,010
Kyrgyzstan11:5,972,65499,197
Macau11:601,6301,582
Lithuania11:3,034,58847,401
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland6,7971:652102
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England1,7371:14,0332,100
Scotland4441:8,4311,139
Wales871:18,0281,057
Isle of Man71:7,753762
Jersey11:51,8823,898
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States7,9071:6,351797

McNamara (83) may also be a first name.

McNamara Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

(Celtic) Son OF Cumara = Hound of the Sea (prob. denoting a skilful sailor) [Irish and Gaelic Mac Conmara-mac, son + con, genit. of cú, a hound + mara, genit. of muir, the sea]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(Irish) The son of the hound of the sea, a name applied to a daring seaman.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

(Celtic.) From Mac, son, and cu—marra or or con—marra, "the hero of the sea."Gon—marra was descended from Gas, King of Thomond, from whom came McConmara, or Macnamara. This family were anciently hereditary lords in the County of Clare.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

User-submitted Reference

The McNamara family built Bunratty castle in Co. Clare in around 1425, which still stands today and has become a popular tourist attraction.

- gracemcnamara

McNamara Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name McNamara Come From? nationality or country of origin

McNamara (Marathi: मँकनमारा) is carried by more people in The United States than any other country/territory. It can also be rendered in the variant forms:. Click here for further potential spellings of this surname.

How Common Is The Last Name McNamara? popularity and diffusion

It is the 9,327th most commonly used last name globally. It is borne by approximately 1 in 119,995 people. The last name McNamara occurs mostly in The Americas, where 62 percent of McNamara are found; 62 percent are found in North America and 61 percent are found in Anglo-North America. It is also the 1,052,971st most commonly held first name at a global level It is held by 83 people.

The surname McNamara is most widely held in The United States, where it is carried by 37,283 people, or 1 in 9,722. In The United States it is mostly found in: New York, where 12 percent are found, California, where 9 percent are found and Massachusetts, where 8 percent are found. Apart from The United States this last name is found in 86 countries. It is also found in Australia, where 22 percent are found and England, where 13 percent are found.

McNamara Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of McNamara has changed over time. In The United States the number of people carrying the McNamara last name grew 472 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it grew 448 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Ireland it grew 114 percent between 1901 and 2014; in Scotland it grew 172 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Wales it grew 477 percent between 1881 and 2014.

McNamara Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the last name is principally Catholic (98%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the McNamara surname are 2.97% more likely to be registered Democrats than The US average, with 50.26% being registered with the political party.

The amount McNamara earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 24.83% less than the national average, earning 260,150 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 102.82% more than the national average, earning R 481,980 per year; in United States they earn 15.71% more than the national average, earning $49,927 USD per year and in Canada they earn 5.73% more than the national average, earning $52,529 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

McNamara Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
McNamara in the Marathi language
मँकनमाराmamkanamara-

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McNamara Reference & Research

McNamarra DNA Website - A web page dedicated to the genetic research of those who bear the surname and its variants.

McNamarra FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to McNamara
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis