The Buchanan surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 66,648 people carried this name — #503 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 4,430 people counted. That is up 4% from 63,825 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Buchanan surname

A habitational surname from Scottish Gaelic from Scotland.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Buchanan» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Buchanan’.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 142 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 24 births for the Buchanan name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 1,100 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 4 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Tyrone.”

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 21
Connacht 2
Munster 1

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 287 people named Buchanan live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 134
Entre Ríos 79
City of Buenos Aires 53
Neuquén 11
Salta 10

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

27 people named Buchanan live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 11
Vaud 9
Zug 4
Aargau 3

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In the Nordic population registers

56 people named Buchanan are counted in Sweden and Finland.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 32
Finland (2026) 24

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

In Scotland, 1880s

Buchanan was 35 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.

That is about 1 in 286. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “Glasgow district.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 587 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.

In Scotland’s registers today

Buchanan was recorded 146 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 157th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 269. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

126 families named Buchanan, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 725 people lived in those households, 5.8 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 18 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Pennsylvania 53
South Carolina 19
North Carolina 17
Maryland 16
New York 13
Virginia 6
Vermont 2

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 231 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Buchanan in American newspapers,
1913.

Newspaper page from Jackson County Journal carrying the name Buchanan
Jackson County Journal 1913-01-17
Newspaper page from Jackson County Journal carrying the name Buchanan
Jackson County Journal 1913-01-03
Newspaper page from Jackson County Journal carrying the name Buchanan
Jackson County Journal 1913-01-10

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Buchanan in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2000s.

186,652 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Buchanan. The most, 26,622, date from the 1910s.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 72,056
Victoria 38,451
Queensland 37,657
South Australia 21,586
Western Australia 9,804
Tasmania 5,920
ACT (Canberra) 676
Northern Territory 184

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Buchanan.

Who carried it

People named Buchanan,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Mary Buchanan
    Mary Buchanan 1731–1818
  • John Buchanan
    John Buchanan 1759–1832 · farmer
  • Frances Montresor Buchanan Allen Penniman
    Frances Montresor Buchanan Allen Penniman 1760–1834 · botanical collector
  • John Buchanan
    John Buchanan 1772–1844 · judge
  • Robert Buchanan
    Robert Buchanan 1802–1875 · theologian

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 250 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Buchanan,
in the records of 7 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States5,868 records

5,868 records of the Buchanan name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2,308
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 1,031
  • Other U.S. records 2,529
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Benjamin John J. Buchanan

    Born 1949; from Jamaica, New York. U.S. Army, indirect fire infantryman; died in an accident 1970 in Binh Dinh, South Vietnam. Buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Nathaniel Buchanan

    Born 1921 in Missouri. Enlisted 1943 at Jefferson Barracks; filling station attendant. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1962, buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Missouri.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Elizabeth Buchanan

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Teutonic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 40; servant. From Glasgow, Scotland; bound for Boston.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 5,868 records for Buchanan in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia3,641 records

3,641 records of the Buchanan name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,891
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 611
  • Other Australian records 1,139
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Buchanan

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Manlius, sailing from London in 1828. Native of Manchester, Lancashire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1846.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Ann Buchanan

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Emma Eugenia, sailing from Portsmouth in 1846. Native of Edinburgh, Midlothian. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1847. Married 1847 in Brighton, Tasmania, aged 22.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record William Buchanan

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the England, sailing from London in 1832. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1839. Married 1839 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 33.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 3,641 records for Buchanan in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada1,173 records

1,173 records of the Buchanan name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 898
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 78
  • Other Canadian records 197
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record Richard Buchanan

    Killed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John Buchanan

    Came to Ontario in 1874 aboard the Canadian, bound for Flesherton, Ontario; Scotch.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record William G. Buchanan

    Died 1996, aged 71; buried at St. Vital Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.

Showing 3 of 1,173 records for Buchanan in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom500 records

500 records of the Buchanan name in the United Kingdom
  • Stirling Council burial records 379
  • Scottish rolls of honour, First World War 64
  • Other British records 57
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record Malcolm Buchanan

    Born 1865 at Breanish Uily; drill hall keeper. Served in the First World War. Named in the Morayshire roll of honour (1921).

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James Buchanan

    Buried in 1969 at Kilmadock Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 51.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record John Buchanan

    Buried in 1826 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 74.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Showing 3 of 500 records for Buchanan in the United Kingdom.

Counts: Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

New Zealand102 records

102 records of the Buchanan name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 96
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 4
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 2
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Ewen Buchanan

    Buried in 1969 at Lyttelton Catholic Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury, aged 71.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Dulcie Elizabeth Buchanan

    Buried in 1966 at Totara Memorial Park Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 56.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Ellen Elizabeth Buchanan

    Died 1965, aged 81; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 102 records for Buchanan in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands16 records

16 records of the Buchanan name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 6
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 5
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 5
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Ann Buchanan

    Died 1819 in Vlissingen, aged 27.

    Open Archives, Zeeuws Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Erich Thomas Buchanan

    Married in 1922 in 's-Gravenhage.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 16 records for Buchanan in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

France2 records

2 records of the Buchanan name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record James Henderson Buchanan

    Born 1942 in Great Britain; died 2001 in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Buchanan in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Buchanan.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Buchanan is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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