The Ireland surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 14,800 people carried this name — #2,445 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 19,900 people counted. That is up 4% from 14,168 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Ireland surname

As an English and Welsh surname

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

An early record he cites: Simon de Irlande, Oxfordshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 419 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 21 births for the Ireland 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. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Antrim and Armagh.”

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

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 17
Leinster 3
Munster 1

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

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Ireland was found among the farmers of 3 counties.

It was most frequent in Lancashire: 20 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 500. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Lancashire 20
Sussex 18
Yorkshire, North and East Ridings 10

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Ireland was recorded 35 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 710th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 62. 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

57 families named Ireland, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 265 people lived in those households, 4.6 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 3 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

New York 18
Maryland 11
North Carolina 7
Massachusetts 6
Pennsylvania 5
Maine 4
Virginia 4
Connecticut 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. 247 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Ireland in American newspapers,
1914–1922.

Newspaper page from The Independent-reporter carrying the name Ireland
The Independent-reporter 1922-03-23
Newspaper page from The Independent-reporter carrying the name Ireland
The Independent-reporter 1917-10-11
Newspaper page from Daily Kennebec Journal carrying the name Ireland
Daily Kennebec Journal 1914-01-23

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 7,345 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Ireland in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

90,310 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Ireland. The most, 15,553, date from the 1860s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 36,241
New South Wales 28,491
Queensland 8,456
South Australia 7,712
Tasmania 5,266
Western Australia 3,717
ACT (Canberra) 244
Northern Territory 27

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

Who carried it

People named Ireland,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Samuel Ireland
    Samuel Ireland d. 1800 · writer
  • William M. Ireland
    William M. Ireland d. 1891
  • Bernard Ireland d. 2019 · writer
  • George Ireland d. 1596 · politician
  • Matilda Sophia Ireland d. 1914
  • Margaret Ireland d. 1720

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 Ireland,
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 States1,944 records

1,944 records of the Ireland name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 502
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 384
  • Other U.S. records 1,058
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Donald E. Ireland

    Born 1921 in Wisconsin. Enlisted 1940 at Fort Lewis, Washington; oiler. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1978, buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minnesota.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Malcolm D. Ireland

    Born 1931; from Hamilton County, Indiana. U.S. Army, medical aidman; killed in action 1951 in South Korea.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Alfred Ireland

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

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

Showing 3 of 1,944 records for Ireland in the United States.

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

Australia1,455 records

1,455 records of the Ireland name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 721
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 267
  • Other Australian records 467
  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 Thomas Ireland

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Georgiana, sailing from Plymouth in 1828. Native of Hints, Staffordshire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1845. Married 1845 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 29.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Thomas Ireland

    Died 1925 in Homoeopathic Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1925.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Richard Edward Ireland

    Born 1882 in Hobart, Tasmania. Died 1913 in Tasmania, aged 32.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,455 records for Ireland in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (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) · 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); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada144 records

144 records of the Ireland name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 35
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 29
  • Other Canadian records 80
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Angus Ireland

    Killed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917; buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax.

    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 Thomas Ireland

    Came to Ontario in 1874 aboard the Polynesian, bound for London, Ontario; English.

    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 John William Ireland

    Buried in 1972 at Burnsland Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 82.

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

Showing 3 of 144 records for Ireland 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 Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

United Kingdom88 records

88 records of the Ireland name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 50
  • Scottish rolls of honour, First World War 14
  • Other British records 24
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record Alfred Ireland

    Born 1859 at Brechin. Served in the First World War. Named in the University of Aberdeen roll of service in the Great War, 1914-1919.

    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 David Ireland

    Died 1916, aged 70; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Annie Ireland

    Will proved in 1939; of Llandudno, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)

Showing 3 of 88 records for Ireland 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) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). 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); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

New Zealand27 records

27 records of the Ireland name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 13
  • Marlborough District cemetery records 10
  • Other New Zealand records 4
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Rose Anne Ireland

    Died 1918, aged 75; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Josephine Ireland

    Died 1978, aged 61; buried at Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Charles Henry Wallace Ireland

    Died 1980; buried at Kaiapoi Public Cemetery, Canterbury.

    Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 27 records for Ireland in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Waimakariri 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).

France9 records

9 records of the Ireland 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 Philippe Albert Henry Ireland

    Born 1930 in Paris; died 1980 in Paris.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Raymonde Ireland

    Born 1927 in Paris; died 1999 in Sens (Yonne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Paul Joseph Ireland

    Born 1909 in Colombes (Paris); died 1988 in Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 3 of 9 records for Ireland 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).

Netherlands2 records

2 records of the Ireland name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 1
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Florence Irene Ireland

    Married in 1931 in Arnhem.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Ireland in the Netherlands.

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

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Ireland.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Ireland 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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