O'Kearney Surname

2,237,939th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 72 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Australia
Highest density in:
Ireland

O'Kearney Surname Definition:

The anglicized form of two Irish surnames: Ó Catharnaigh, of Kilcoursey, now often Fox, q.v. Ó Cearnaigh is the name of two septs now called Kearney (or Carney in Connacht) viz. of the Uí Fiachrach and of the Dál gCais: the latter migrated to Cashel.

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O'Kearney Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Australia361:749,88148,970
Ireland231:204,7368,142
England111:5,065,278148,650
United States21:181,229,4661,556,795
United Arab Emirates11:9,162,273135,437
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland131:340,75912,983
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England51:4,875,074116,529

O'Kearney Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

The anglicized form of two Irish surnames: Ó Catharnaigh, of Kilcoursey, now often Fox, q.v. Ó Cearnaigh is the name of two septs now called Kearney (or Carney in Connacht) viz. of the Uí Fiachrach and of the Dál gCais: the latter migrated to Cashel. IF 192; Map Mayo and Tip

— A Guide to Irish Names (1964) by Edward MacLysaght

The sept of O'Kearney is placed, by O'Dugan's Topography of Ireland, in that part of Westmeath that is called Teffia; but Ortelius's map places a clan of the name in co. Cork, and they also appear to have been territorial in co. Clare. The elder family of this name adopted the sobriquet of Sionnach, or Fox, and by the English appellation one of the family was created Baron of Kileoursey by Queen Elizabeth. The name occurs as O'Kerny in the XI., and as O'Cearney in the XII. cent. D'Alton.

— Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:
  • Religious Adherence in:
    Ireland

O'Kearney Demographics

O'Kearney Religious Adherence
in Ireland

Sample size: 13 (1901)

Religious Adherence
in Ireland

View the most religious surnames in Ireland

O'Kearney Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name O'Kearney Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name O'Kearney is more frequently found in Australia than any other country or territory. It may also occur as a variant:. For other possible spellings of this name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name O'Kearney? popularity and diffusion

The surname O'Kearney is the 2,237,939th most common last name in the world, held by around 1 in 101,215,916 people. The last name O'Kearney occurs mostly in Oceania, where 50 percent of O'Kearney live; 50 percent live in Australasia and 50 percent live in Australia and New Zealand.

This surname is most frequent in Australia, where it is held by 36 people, or 1 in 749,881. In Australia it is most prevalent in: Queensland, where 64 percent are found, Victoria, where 33 percent are found and Australian Capital Territory, where 3 percent are found. Outside of Australia this surname occurs in 4 countries. It also occurs in Ireland, where 32 percent are found and England, where 15 percent are found.

O'Kearney Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of O'Kearney has changed through the years. In Ireland the share of the population with the last name expanded 177 percent between 1901 and 2014 and in England it expanded 220 percent between 1881 and 2014.

O'Kearney Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those bearing the O'Kearney surname is predominantly Catholic (85%) in Ireland.

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Okearney944/
O'Kearny940/
Okearny883/
Ockerney820/
O'Carney820/
Hokarne75232/
Gokarne752/
Hokerne751/
Okernehe711/
O'Carnes711/
O'Carner711/
Gokerneh711/
Goikarne711/
Akarne67279/
Okarna674/
Ekarne671/
Akerne670/
Show All Similar Surnames

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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 O'Kearney
  • 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