Explore the Family Name O’farrell

The meaning of O’farrell

Irish (Longford and Roscommon): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Fearghail ‘descendant of Fearghal’ (see Farrell). Some characteristic forenames: Irish Fergus, Kieran, Brendan, Finbarr, Niall, Sinead.

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

How common is the last name O’farrell in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname O’Farrell has seen a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 13,759th in popularity, but by 2010 it had dropped to the 14,127th spot – a change of -2.67 percent. Despite this shift in rank, the number of individuals bearing the O’Farrell name actually increased from 2,019 in 2000 to 2,127 in 2010, constituting an increase of 5.35 percent. However, its overall proportion per 100k people declined by 4.0 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#13,759	#14,127	-2.67%
Count	2,019	2,127	5.35%
Proportion per 100k	0.75	0.72	-4%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name O’farrell

The ethnicity data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals a diverse breakdown for the O’Farrell surname. The largest ethnic identity group in both 2000 and 2010 was White, with a slight decrease in representation over the decade from 93.91 to 92.10 percent. The Hispanic population within the O’Farrell surname increased significantly by 65.89 percent, going from 2.58 percent in 2000 to 4.28 percent in 2010. Similarly, the Asian/Pacific Islander representation also grew by 57.41 percent. There was a slight increase in those identifying with two or more races, while the percentage of Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities decreased during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.91%	92.1%	-1.93%
Hispanic	2.58%	4.28%	65.89%
Two or More Races	1.78%	1.97%	10.67%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.54%	0.85%	57.41%
Black	0.59%	0.42%	-28.81%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.59%	0.38%	-35.59%