Explore the Family Name Clingan

The meaning of Clingan

Scottish (Kirkcudbrightshire) and Irish (Fermanagh, Down): shortened form of Mac Clingan, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gilla Fhinnéin ‘son of the servant of (Saint) Finnian’, also Anglicized as Mac Alingen.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Clingan" has seen a minor decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Clingan was the 15,280th most popular surname in the United States, with 1,766 individuals bearing it. By 2010, it dropped slightly to the 15,995th position despite an increase in count to 1,815. This resulted in a change rate of -4.68% in rank and a 2.77% increment in count. The proportion per 100k also saw a reduction of 4.62%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#15,280	#15,995	-4.68%
Count	1,766	1,815	2.77%
Proportion per 100k	0.65	0.62	-4.62%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Clingan

The ethnic identity associated with the Clingan surname as per the Decennial U.S. Census also experienced some shifts from 2000 to 2010. The majority of those with this last name identified as White, with figures remaining relatively stable at 94.56% in 2000 and 94.49% in 2010. There were increases in those identifying as Black (from 0.40% to 0.55%) and two or more races (from 1.30% to 1.82%). The Hispanic representation also rose slightly from 1.64% to 1.76%. Conversely, there was a decline for the Asian/Pacific Islander category (from 0.57% to 0.44%) and a notable decrease for American Indian and Alaskan Native identifiers, dropping from 1.53% to 0.94%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.56%	94.49%	-0.07%
Two or More Races	1.3%	1.82%	40%
Hispanic	1.64%	1.76%	7.32%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.53%	0.94%	-38.56%
Black	0.4%	0.55%	37.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.57%	0.44%	-22.81%