The Kiernan surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,966 people carried this name — #5,802 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 49,500 people counted. That is up 5% from 5,668 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Kiernan surname

From Irish Tighearnán, from Tighearna (“lord”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Kiernan» (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 70 births for the Kiernan name in 1890.

They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Leinster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 3,100 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 14 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Leinster 45
Ulster 14
Connacht 10
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 140 people named Kiernan 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.

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

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 89
City of Buenos Aires 28
Chubut 13
Río Negro 10

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

In Scotland’s registers today

Kiernan was recorded 13 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1564th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 17. 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

Kiernan in American newspapers,
1909–1917.

Newspaper page from Honolulu Star-bulletin carrying the name Kiernan
Honolulu Star-bulletin 1917-09-05
Newspaper page from Goodwin's Weekly : A Thinking Paper For Thinking People carrying the name Kiernan
Goodwin's Weekly : A Thinking Paper For Thinking People 1909-03-20
Newspaper page from Goodwin's Weekly : A Thinking Paper For Thinking People carrying the name Kiernan
Goodwin's Weekly : A Thinking Paper For Thinking People 1909-04-03

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 27,978 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Kiernan in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

10,208 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kiernan. The most, 3,520, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 2.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 4,433
New South Wales 2,261
Queensland 2,138
South Australia 497
Western Australia 469
Tasmania 243
ACT (Canberra) 142
Northern Territory 6

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

Who carried it

People named Kiernan,
with a public archive behind them.

  • James Lawlor Kiernan
    James Lawlor Kiernan 1837–1869 · surgeon
  • James G. Kiernan
    James G. Kiernan 1852–1923 · psychologist
  • Chris Kiernan
    Chris Kiernan 1878–1925 · cricketer
  • John J. Kiernan
    John J. Kiernan 1890–1951 · pastor
  • Kitty Kiernan
    Kitty Kiernan 1892–1945 · activist
  • George Kiernan 1754–1811

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 Kiernan,
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 States4,079 records

4,079 records of the Kiernan name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2,496
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 510
  • Other U.S. records 1,073
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Daniel J. Kiernan

    Born 1932; from New York, New York. U.S. Army, light weapons infantry leader; killed in action 1953 in North Korea. Buried at Cypress Hills 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 Eugene W. Kiernan

    Born 1919 in New York. Enlisted 1941 at Fort Dix, New Jersey; office clerk. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at BG William C Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, New Jersey.

    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 Ellen Kiernan

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Majestic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 19; servant. From Dublin, Ireland; bound for New York.

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

Showing 3 of 4,079 records for Kiernan in the United States.

Counts: 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. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · 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: 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).

Australia426 records

426 records of the Kiernan name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 128
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 104
  • Other Australian records 194
  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 Michael Kiernan

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Lord Auckland, sailing from Dublin in 1846. Native of Westmeath. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1854. Married 1854 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 27.

    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 James Kiernan

    Died 1914 in General Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1915.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Kate Kiernan

    Arrived in Victoria in 1899 aboard the Oruba, aged 20.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 426 records for Kiernan 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) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). 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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada8 records

8 records of the Kiernan name in Canada
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 4
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 2
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 2
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Brian William Kiernan

    Died 1959 in Georges River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. 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 Herbert Wallace Kiernan

    Died in service in 1917.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  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 John Frederick Jospeh Kiernan

    Died in service in 1920.

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

Showing 3 of 8 records for Kiernan 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. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: 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 Kingdom8 records

8 records of the Kiernan name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 4
  • Stirling Council burial records 4
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Peter Francis Kiernan

    Buried in 1976 at Killearn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 65.

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

    Died 1983, aged 74; buried at St Thomas Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  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. Kiernan

    Lancashire Fusiliers. 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 8 records for Kiernan in the United Kingdom.

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

France2 records

2 records of the Kiernan 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 Jonny Roger Jacques Kiernan

    Born 1946 in Dreux (Eure-et-Loir); died 1989 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 Mary Madeline Kiernan

    Born 1903 in Great Britain; died 1996 in Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

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 Kiernan.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Kiernan 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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