Explore the Family Name Athy

The meaning of Athy

1. Irish: habitational name from Athy in County Kildare, Gaelic Áth í ‘ford of the yew tree’. This is one of the very few Irish surnames derived from a placename. It was adopted by Norman settlers in Ireland in the form de Athy, which was re-Gaelicized as Ataoi and borne by one of the ‘tribes of Galway’, who first settled in County Kildare c.1300. 2. English: variant of Athey. Some characteristic forenames: Irish Brendan.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Athy in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Athy grew in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the surname improved from 62396 to 60505, showing a positive change of 3.03%. Additionally, the count of individuals bearing the surname Athy increased by 11%, from 300 in 2000 to 333 in 2010. Regardless of this increase, the proportion per 100k people remained unchanged at 0.11.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#62,396	#60,505	3.03%
Count	300	333	11%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.11	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Athy

Turning to ethnicity, based on the Decennial U.S. Census, in 2000, most individuals with the surname Athy identified as White (80.67%). However, by 2010, this proportion had decreased by 7.31% to 74.77%. Although still small in number, the percentage of those identifying as Black increased by 21.37% to 19.82% in 2010. Moreover, new categories emerged in 2010, with 2.40% of individuals with the surname Athy identifying with two or more races and another 2.40% identifying as Hispanic. There were no changes in the percentages of those who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	80.67%	74.77%	-7.31%
Black	16.33%	19.82%	21.37%
Two or More Races	0%	2.4%	0%
Hispanic	0%	2.4%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%