McPherson Surname

7,937th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 71,507 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Dominica

McPherson Surname Definition:

(Scottish) The son of the parson.

McPherson Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States47,5561:7,622908
Australia11,2771:2,394314
Canada6,9441:5,306774
England5,4591:10,2071,506
Scotland4,3541:1,230211
Jamaica4,0181:714135
South Africa2,1551:25,1403,209
New Zealand1,5791:2,868419
Guyana9831:775100
Trinidad and Tobago3471:3,931649
Northern Ireland1541:11,9811,780
Panama1541:25,4041,571
Malawi1311:130,68014,293
Wales1271:24,3662,557
Dominica1131:672155
Thailand761:929,452144,548
Mexico751:1,655,01617,098
France601:1,107,045119,335
Lesotho591:34,4506,217
Germany511:1,578,53893,812
Singapore511:107,9944,447
Cayman Islands481:1,331176
Dominican Republic461:226,8038,136
Ireland431:109,5105,657
Belize401:8,8871,225
Kuwait391:97,45410,676
Philippines321:3,163,694143,904
Guatemala281:574,3815,123
Barbados271:10,646786
Norway261:197,78022,769
Qatar251:94,32010,875
Zimbabwe241:643,26047,966
Spain221:2,125,09354,547
Sweden221:447,58032,003
Brazil211:10,194,016213,214
Iraq211:1,667,69816,789
Antigua and Barbuda181:5,510685
Botswana171:128,64318,229
Denmark161:352,79524,706
Switzerland141:586,63740,624
United States Virgin Islands131:8,4901,249
Malaysia121:2,457,85295,442
Netherlands121:1,407,26575,423
India111:69,733,217610,955
China101:136,732,1577,199
Ghana91:3,002,29911,581
Peru91:3,531,56931,288
Italy81:7,644,586115,463
Nigeria81:22,142,845310,552
Chile71:2,516,63933,195
Hong Kong71:1,047,9264,985
Grenada61:18,0891,003
South Korea61:8,540,0431,433
Argentina51:8,548,683204,003
Belgium51:2,299,329106,824
Bermuda51:13,0561,849
Cuba51:2,304,5438,951
Montserrat51:989156
Czechia41:2,658,367127,801
Fiji41:223,5982,635
Costa Rica31:1,593,3568,177
Jersey31:33,0674,675
Papua New Guinea31:2,717,906153,458
Russia31:48,041,019639,186
Saint Lucia31:59,5942,472
United Arab Emirates31:3,054,09190,853
Venezuela31:10,068,02660,591
Brunei21:209,3663,098
Bulgaria21:3,489,45264,958
Indonesia21:66,124,597756,638
Israel21:4,278,817136,311
Japan21:63,922,14662,827
Romania21:10,038,93580,612
Vietnam21:46,323,0275,235
Afghanistan11:32,153,18360,828
Albania11:2,914,05529,474
Angola11:26,989,21411,853
Austria11:8,515,435118,036
Bahamas11:391,7512,737
British Virgin Islands11:31,5941,029
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
Finland11:5,496,70284,025
Georgia11:3,745,54547,852
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Ivory Coast11:23,071,23276,679
Lebanon11:5,637,08332,436
Mali11:16,969,0354,067
Monaco11:37,0664,748
Mongolia11:2,825,28917,010
Morocco11:34,476,099111,471
Myanmar11:51,937,9852,166
Namibia11:2,409,40119,676
Nepal11:28,480,95622,413
Niue11:1,614145
Norfolk Island11:2,295315
Puerto Rico11:3,550,1399,109
Saint Kitts and Nevis11:55,1991,294
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines11:112,6591,704
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
Seychelles11:92,3931,532
Solomon Islands11:580,02922,243
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Syria11:19,301,02222,457
Taiwan11:23,444,74693,622
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Tuvalu11:11,188103
Uganda11:39,039,279258,887
Ukraine11:45,522,696503,646
Zambia11:15,849,92253,989
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland2711:16,3462,035
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland10,9061:34353
England1,6931:14,3982,150
Wales471:33,3711,813
Isle of Man111:4,934490
Guernsey51:6,5311,136
Jersey41:12,9712,116
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States8,4391:5,951746

McPherson (1,723) may also be a first name.

McPherson Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

(Scottish) The son of the parson.

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

The son of Pherson. Pherson is the son of Pfarrer, German, a parson, and that from Pfarre, a parish, a benefit, or living. Pfarre is derived from the Gaelic Faire, a watcher, to watch, an overseer, Episcopus.

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

'Parson's Son'.

Manx Names (1890) by Arthur William Moore

McPherson Last Name Facts

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

The last name McPherson is borne by more people in The United States than any other country/territory. It may also appear as:. Click here to see other potential spellings of McPherson.

How Common Is The Last Name McPherson? popularity and diffusion

It is the 7,937th most commonly occurring family name in the world. It is borne by around 1 in 101,914 people. The last name McPherson occurs mostly in The Americas, where 84 percent of McPherson reside; 76 percent reside in North America and 76 percent reside in Anglo-North America. McPherson is also the 184,937th most widespread forename on earth. It is borne by 1,723 people.

This surname is most frequently held in The United States, where it is carried by 47,556 people, or 1 in 7,622. In The United States McPherson is primarily concentrated in: Texas, where 8 percent reside, California, where 8 percent reside and Florida, where 6 percent reside. Beside The United States it occurs in 109 countries. It is also common in Australia, where 16 percent reside and Canada, where 10 percent reside.

McPherson Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of McPherson has changed over time. In The United States the number of people bearing the McPherson surname expanded 564 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it expanded 322 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it decreased 60 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it expanded 270 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it decreased 84 percent between 1901 and 2014.

McPherson Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those carrying the McPherson surname is predominantly Presbyterian (45%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the McPherson last name are 10.08% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 56.85% being registered with the party.

The amount McPherson earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 14.93% more than the national average, earning 397,747 kr per year; in Peru they earn 49.36% less than the national average, earning S/. 9,817 per year; in South Africa they earn 33.51% more than the national average, earning R 317,280 per year; in United States they earn 0.59% less than the national average, earning $42,894 USD per year and in Canada they earn 3.23% more than the national average, earning $51,290 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Search for Another Surname

McPherson Reference & Research

Pierson/Pearson FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.

Pierson/Pearson 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 McPherson
  • 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