The McCloskey surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 10,756 people carried this name — #3,336 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 27,400 people counted. That is up 2% from 10,582 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the McCloskey surname

From Irish Mac Bhloscaidh.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «McCloskey» (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 79 births for the McCloskey name in 1890.

They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 3,500 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The count includes the spelling McCluskey.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 67
Leinster 10
Connacht 1
Munster 1

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

In print

McCloskey in American newspapers,
1887–1911.

Newspaper page from The Salt Lake Herald carrying the name McCloskey
The Salt Lake Herald 1887-02-04
Newspaper page from Bill Barlow's Budget carrying the name McCloskey
Bill Barlow's Budget 1911-08-02
Newspaper page from Windham County Reformer carrying the name McCloskey
Windham County Reformer 1903-12-24

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 45,086 pages in all carry the name.

In print

McCloskey in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1990s.

2,540 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McCloskey. The most, 693, date from the 1930s. 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 the Australian Capital Territory, at 3.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 1,210
Victoria 513
Queensland 396
ACT (Canberra) 290
Western Australia 58
South Australia 46
Tasmania 16
Northern Territory 1

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

Who carried it

People named McCloskey,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John McCloskey
    John McCloskey 1810–1885 · Catholic bishop
  • Pete McCloskey
    Pete McCloskey 1927–2024 · non-fiction writer
  • Augustus McCloskey
    Augustus McCloskey 1878–1950 · politician
  • William George McCloskey
    William George McCloskey 1823–1909 · Catholic bishop
  • Frank McCloskey
    Frank McCloskey 1939–2003 · politician
  • Jack McCloskey 1925–2017 · basketball coach

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0.

In the public record

People named McCloskey,
in the records of 3 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 States1,258 records

1,258 records of the McCloskey name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 769
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 174
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 147
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 74
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 67
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 18
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 5
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 3
  • Riverside Cemetery, Asheville (North Carolina) 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Scott Simons McCloskey

    Born 1945; from Hollywood, Florida. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1967 in Binh Dinh, South Vietnam.

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

    Arrived at New York in 1850 aboard the Fanny from Londonderry, aged 28; farmer. From Derry, Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)
  3. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Francis T. McCloskey

    Born 1920 in Pennsylvania. Enlisted 1940 at Philadelphia; auto mechanic from Philadelphia County.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain)

Showing 3 of 1,258 records for McCloskey in the United States.

Counts: NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · 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) · 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. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · 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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain).

Australia167 records

167 records of the McCloskey name in Australia
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 65
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 55
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 30
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 17
  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 James McCloskey

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the William Jardine, arriving 1838; certificate of freedom 1844.

    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 John McCloskey

    Arrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the Edmond, aged 25; English.

    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 Henry John McCloskey

    Emeritus professor of Hawthorn, Victoria; died 2000.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 167 records for McCloskey in Australia.

Counts: Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY). 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).

Canada26 records

26 records of the McCloskey name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 11
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 7
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 5
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 2
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record George Dennis McCloskey

    Buried in 1914 at St. Mary's Pioneer Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 52.

    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 Janet McCloskey

    Died 1912 in Sydney, Cape Breton, 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 Edward Jerome McCloskey

    Died in service in 1944.

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

Showing 3 of 26 records for McCloskey in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · 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 Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. 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).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with McCloskey.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to McCloskey.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McCloskey 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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