The Drennan surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,233 people carried this name — #7,821 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 69,400 people counted. That is up 8% from 3,927 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Drennan surname

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Draighneáin (“descendant of Draighneán”), a byname from draighneán (“blackthorn tree”).

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

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 20 births for the Drennan name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 900 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. One of them was indexed under another spelling of the name. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Antrim and Tipperary.”

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

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 11
Leinster 5
Munster 4

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

In Scotland’s registers today

Drennan was recorded 15 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1427th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 30. 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 print

Drennan in American newspapers,
1884–1919.

Newspaper page from The Barre Daily Times carrying the name Drennan
The Barre Daily Times 1903-06-15
Newspaper page from The News Scimitar carrying the name Drennan
The News Scimitar 1919-08-30
Newspaper page from Memphis Daily Appeal carrying the name Drennan
Memphis Daily Appeal 1884-02-03

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 14,218 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Drennan in Australian newspapers,
1820s–1980s.

5,767 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Drennan. The most, 1,313, date from the 1910s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in South Australia, at 3.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

South Australia 2,034
New South Wales 1,858
Victoria 747
Queensland 699
Western Australia 244
Tasmania 149
ACT (Canberra) 25
Northern Territory 1

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

Who carried it

People named Drennan,
with a public archive behind them.

  • William Drennan
    William Drennan 1754–1820 · writer
  • America McCutchen Drennan
    America McCutchen Drennan 1830–1913 · teacher
  • America McCutchen Drennan
    America McCutchen Drennan 1830–1903 · teacher
  • Thomas J. Drennan
    Thomas J. Drennan 1877–1928
  • Thomas Drennan 1696–1768
  • Frederick Drennan 1779–1837 · civil servant

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Drennan,
in the records of 5 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 States611 records

611 records of the Drennan name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 206
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 176
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 65
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 57
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 49
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 32
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 24
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  • New York State police and firefighter memorial rolls 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record William A. Drennan

    Born 1916 in New York. Enlisted 1943 at New York City; stenographer from Washington, D.C. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1989, buried at Calverton National Cemetery, New York.

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

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Germanic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 34; servant. From New York; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Robert Emmet Drennan

    Born 1932; from South Boston, Massachusetts. U.S. Marine Corps; died of wounds 1950 in Korea.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 611 records for Drennan in the United States.

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

Australia117 records

117 records of the Drennan name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 54
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 29
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 15
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 9
  • Tasmanian Names Index 5
  • State Library of Western Australia indexes 2
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 2
  • Canberra cemetery and marriage records 1
  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 William Drennan

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Eliza, arriving 1822.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Wallace Drennan

    Arrived in Victoria in 1857 aboard the Algiers, aged 20; Scottish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record David Drennan

    Retired of Ballarat, Victoria; died 1999.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 117 records for Drennan in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). 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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada13 records

13 records of the Drennan name in Canada
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 5
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 3
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 3
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 2
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Pearl I. Drennan

    Died 1919; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Thomas A. Drennan

    Died 1932 in Hebbville, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Gerald Maxwell Drennan

    Died in service in 1941.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 13 records for Drennan in Canada.

Counts: Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom7 records

7 records of the Drennan name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 6
  • Scottish rolls of honour, First World War 1
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record Robert Hugh Drennan

    Born 1866. Died 1917. Named in the University of Edinburgh roll of honour, 1914-1919.

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record R. Drennan

    Leicestershire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record F. H. Drennan

    King's (Liverpool Regiment). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 7 records for Drennan in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). 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).

New Zealand2 records

2 records of the Drennan name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Margaret Ruth Drennan

    Died 1955, aged 32; buried at Ruru Lawn, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Drennan in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Drennan.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Drennan 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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