The Kinsella surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,179 people carried this name — #7,920 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 70,400 people counted. That is up 3% from 4,074 in 2000.

See Kinsella on the map Look up another surname

Share

Where the name comes from

The origin of the Kinsella surname

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Ceinnsealaigh.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Kinsella» (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 81 births for the Kinsella name in 1890.

Most were registered in Leinster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 3,600 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 6 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Dublin, Wexford, Wicklow, and Kildare.”

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Leinster 73
Munster 6
Connacht 2

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

Kinsella was recorded 16 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1361st most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. 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

Kinsella in American newspapers,
1875–1903.

Newspaper page from River Falls Journal carrying the name Kinsella
River Falls Journal 1875-02-05
Newspaper page from Memphis Daily Appeal carrying the name Kinsella
Memphis Daily Appeal 1884-08-09
Newspaper page from Scranton Wochenblatt carrying the name Kinsella
Scranton Wochenblatt 1903-04-16

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 19,924 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Kinsella in Australian newspapers,
1830s–1990s.

15,155 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kinsella. The most, 4,389, date from the 1950s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 2.0 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 7,832
Western Australia 2,798
Victoria 2,254
Queensland 959
Tasmania 734
ACT (Canberra) 297
South Australia 253
Northern Territory 7

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

Who carried it

People named Kinsella,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Thomas Kinsella
    Thomas Kinsella 1832–1884 · politician
  • Walter Kinsella
    Walter Kinsella 1900–1975 · actor
  • Arthur Kinsella
    Arthur Kinsella 1918–2004 · politician
  • Thomas Kinsella
    Thomas Kinsella 1928–2021 · writer
  • Noël Kinsella
    Noël Kinsella 1939–2023 · politician

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — Thomas Kinsella: kellywritershouse, CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0); Noël Kinsella: US Mission Canada, CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0); the others are in the public domain or CC0 · 80 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Kinsella,
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 States1,362 records

1,362 records of the Kinsella name in the United States
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 431
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 424
  • Other U.S. records 507
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Edward E. Kinsella

    Born 1918 in Massachusetts. Enlisted 1941 at New York City; stock clerk from New York County, New York. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1999, 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 Bridget Kinsella

    Arrived at New York in 1884 aboard the City of Chester from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 18; hotel keeper. From Wexford, Ireland; bound for Memphis.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record William R. Kinsella

    U.S. Army veteran. Born 1937, died 1997; buried at Beverly National Cemetery, New Jersey.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 1,362 records for Kinsella in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · 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, 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. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). 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); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Australia440 records

440 records of the Kinsella name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 191
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 97
  • Other Australian records 152
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record James Kinsella

    Died 1892 in Port Cygnet, Tasmania, aged 65. Will registered in Tasmania in 1892.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Honor Kinsella

    Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1853. Married 1854 in New Norfolk, Tasmania.

    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 John Kinsella

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Surry, arriving 1816; ticket of leave 1833. Native of Dublin.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)

Showing 3 of 440 records for Kinsella in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada22 records

22 records of the Kinsella name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 9
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 6
  • Other Canadian records 7
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Edmund George Kinsella

    Buried in 1980 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 60.

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

    Died 1867 in Pictou, 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 Stephen Oliver Kinsella

    Died in service in 1941.

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

Showing 3 of 22 records for Kinsella 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 Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · 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. 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 Kinsella name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 5
  • Welsh wills index cards 1
  • Stirling Council burial records 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Janet Kinsella

    Died 1983, aged 78; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

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

    Will proved in 1926.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. Kinsella

    Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

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

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

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · 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); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand5 records

5 records of the Kinsella 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 Sarah Jane Kinsella

    Died 1966, aged 86; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

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

    Died 1993, aged 93; buried at Sydenham 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 John James Kinsella

    Died 1927, aged 49; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 5 records for Kinsella 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).

Ireland1 record

1 record of the Kinsella name in Ireland County Galway graveyard records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Thomas Kinsella

    Died 1999; buried at Finure, Co. Galway.

    Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Galway County 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).

France1 record

1 record of the Kinsella 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 Patrick Dennis Kinsella

    Born 1920 in Great Britain; died 2001 in Porto-Vecchio (Corse-du-Sud).

    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 Kinsella.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Kinsella 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.

See the Kinsella volume
Scroll to Top