Explore the Family Name Counihan

The meaning of Counihan

Irish (Kerry): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Cuanacháin, from a pet form of the personal name Cuana (see Cooney).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Counihan has seen a slight shift in its popularity between the years 2000 and 2010. The rank of this surname moved from 35,003 to 35,866, marking a decline of 2.47%. Simultaneously, the count of individuals carrying this surname increased from 610 to 626, an increase of 2.62%. However, when looking at the proportion per 100k, there was an 8.7% decrease. This indicates that while the absolute number of people with the Counihan surname has grown, its overall prevalence in the population has decreased.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#35,003	#35,866	-2.47%
Count	610	626	2.62%
Proportion per 100k	0.23	0.21	-8.7%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Counihan

In terms of ethnic identity, the Counihan surname is predominantly associated with individuals of white ethnicity, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, 98.03% of individuals with this surname were white, though this figure slightly decreased to 96.81% by 2010. Interestingly, the decade saw a small emergence of Asian/Pacific Islander and individuals of two or more races within the Counihan surname bearers, both constituting less than 1% each. Meanwhile, the percentage of Hispanic individuals with this surname dropped from 1.15% to 0.96%. There were no recorded instances of the surname among Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native populations during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	98.03%	96.81%	-1.24%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.96%	0%
Hispanic	1.15%	0.96%	-16.52%
Two or More Races	0%	0.8%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%