Explore the Family Name Galway

The meaning of Galway

Irish and Scottish: in most cases, probably a variant of Scottish Galloway, rather than from the city or county in Connacht (habitational names are rare in Ireland). During the Middle Ages Galways were wealthy merchants on the south coast of Ireland, but now the name there is largely confined to Ulster.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Galway has seen a slight decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 51,233rd and by 2010, it had fallen to 52,037th, marking a 1.57% drop in rank. However, the overall count of individuals with this surname slightly increased during this decade, from 382 to 399, suggesting a growth of 4.45%. The proportion of people named Galway per 100,000 remained steady at 0.14.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#51,233	#52,037	-1.57%
Count	382	399	4.45%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.14	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Galway

The ethnicity table compiled from the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals a varied ethnic identity associated with the Galway surname. Between 2000 and 2010, there were no reported Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native affiliations. However, there was a slight decrease of 20.06% in those claiming two or more races. The majority of individuals with the Galway surname self-identified as White, with percentages of 91.10 in 2000 and 90.23 in 2010, showing a slight decrease of 0.95%. The percentage of Hispanic individuals rose by 23.50% while the Black community saw the greatest increase, up 56.60% from 2.88% in 2000 to 4.51% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.1%	90.23%	-0.95%
Black	2.88%	4.51%	56.6%
Two or More Races	3.14%	2.51%	-20.06%
Hispanic	1.83%	2.26%	23.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%