Explore the Family Name Cavanah

The meaning of Cavanah

Irish: 1. with stress on the first syllable, this is a shortened Anglicized form of Mac Caomhánach, see Kavanagh. 2. alternatively, with stress on -van-, this is a shortened form of McCavana, from Mac an Mhanaigh, ‘son of the monk’ (from manach ‘monk’). This was a Mayo surname, also Anglicized by translation as Monk and Monks.

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

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

The surname Cavanah has seen a modest increase in prevalence from 2000 to 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, it ranked at 40,622 and rose slightly to 40,610 by 2010, denoting a 0.03 change in ranking. The total count of individuals with the Cavanah last name also grew by 6.11 percent during this period, moving from 507 to 538 people. However, the proportion per 100,000 people marginally declined by 5.26 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#40,622	#40,610	0.03%
Count	507	538	6.11%
Proportion per 100k	0.19	0.18	-5.26%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Cavanah

As for the ethnic identity associated with the Cavanah surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows predominantly White ethnicity. About 94.87 percent were identified as White in 2000, dropping slightly to 94.24 percent by 2010. Meanwhile, those identifying as Hispanic showed an upward trend, increasing from 2.17 percent in 2000 to 3.72 percent in 2010. Those reporting two or more races decreased significantly by 60.76 percent over the decade from 2.37 percent to just 0.93 percent. There were no reported cases of Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnicities in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.87%	94.24%	-0.66%
Hispanic	2.17%	3.72%	71.43%
Two or More Races	2.37%	0.93%	-60.76%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%