Explore the Family Name Mcgahan

The meaning of Mcgahan

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Eacháin or Mag Eocháin, ‘son of Eachán’ a diminutive of Eachaidh, a personal name based on each ‘horse’. Scottish variants tend to spell the internal fricative [x] as ch rather than gh or h as in Ireland (see McEachin). Also compare Keough and Keohane.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Mcgahan has seen a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. Ranked 17,685th in 2000, it slipped to the 18,640th place by 2010, marking a drop of 5.4%. Despite this decline in rank, the actual count of individuals bearing the name Mcgahan increased marginally from 1,462 to 1,476 during the same period, growing by approximately 0.96%. However, the proportion per 100k population dipped by 7.41%, from 0.54 to 0.5.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#17,685	#18,640	-5.4%
Count	1,462	1,476	0.96%
Proportion per 100k	0.54	0.5	-7.41%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Mcgahan

Regarding ethnicity distribution, the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of individuals with the Mcgahan surname identify as White, accounting for 94.87% in 2000 and 93.9% in 2010. The Hispanic representation saw an increase of 53.3%, moving from 2.12% in 2000 to 3.25% in 2010. Those identifying with two or more races also increased by 36.11%, from 1.44% to 1.96%. Meanwhile, the percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander fell by half from 0.82% to 0.41%. The numbers for Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnic identities were either too small or suppressed for privacy in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.87%	93.9%	-1.02%
Hispanic	2.12%	3.25%	53.3%
Two or More Races	1.44%	1.96%	36.11%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.82%	0.41%	-50%
Black	0.34%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.41%	0%	0%