Explore the Family Name Mccleave

The meaning of Mccleave

Irish (northern): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Fhlaithimh ‘son of Flaitheamh’, a personal name meaning ‘prince, sovereign’. Compare Claffey. The surname has sometimes been ‘translated’ as Hand, as the shortened pronunciation of fhlaithimh sounds like Gaelic lámh ‘hand’.

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

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

The surname Mccleave has seen subtle shifts in popularity based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, it was ranked at 37,480 and marginally slipped to 37,792 by 2010, reflecting a decrease of 0.83%. However, the count of individuals bearing this surname increased from 559 to 588 over the same period, indicating a growth rate of 5.19%. The proportion of Mccleave per 100k people saw a slight drop of -4.76%, shifting from 0.21 to 0.2 between 2000 and 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#37,480	#37,792	-0.83%
Count	559	588	5.19%
Proportion per 100k	0.21	0.2	-4.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Mccleave

In terms of ethnicity distribution for the Mccleave surname, the Decennial U.S. Census provides an interesting perspective. There was no reported Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native representation in both years. The White demographic showed a slight dip from 49.19% in 2000 to 44.90% in 2010, while Black representation rose minimally from 49.02% to 49.83% over the same timeframe. Interestingly, the surname made its appearance in the Hispanic community in 2010 with a 1.02% share, and the proportion of those identifying as two or more races increased significantly from 1.25% to 3.57%, signifying a considerable change of 185.60%.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	49.02%	49.83%	1.65%
White	49.19%	44.9%	-8.72%
Two or More Races	1.25%	3.57%	185.6%
Hispanic	0%	1.02%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%