The McCourt surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,206 people carried this name — #7,868 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 69,900 people counted. That is up 4% from 4,044 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the McCourt surname

Variant of McCord.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «McCourt» (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 44 births for the McCourt name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 2,000 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time.

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

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 29
Leinster 13
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

McCourt was recorded 30 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 816th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 44. 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

McCourt in American newspapers,
1900–1919.

Newspaper page from The Butte Daily Post carrying the name McCourt
The Butte Daily Post 1917-02-14
Newspaper page from Evening Star carrying the name McCourt
Evening Star 1919-11-20
Newspaper page from Akron Daily Democrat carrying the name McCourt
Akron Daily Democrat 1900-03-31

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 15,667 pages in all carry the name.

In print

McCourt in Australian newspapers,
1850s–2000s.

10,250 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McCourt. The most, 2,280, date from the 1910s. 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 South Australia, at 2.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 5,221
South Australia 3,136
Western Australia 1,017
Queensland 476
Victoria 195
Tasmania 165
ACT (Canberra) 17
Northern Territory 7

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

Who carried it

People named McCourt,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Frank McCourt 1930–2009 · autobiographer
  • Malachy McCourt 1931–2024 · film screenwriter
  • Jim McCourt 1944–2023 · boxer
  • Frank McCourt 1925–2006 · association football player

Wikidata (CC0).

In the public record

People named McCourt,
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 States1,178 records

1,178 records of the McCourt name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 360
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 343
  • Other U.S. records 475
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record James F. McCourt

    Born 1912 in California. Enlisted 1942 at San Francisco; stationary engineer from Marin County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1992, buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery, California.

    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 Mary McCourt

    Arrived at New York in 1885 aboard the City of Berlin from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 16; servant. From Glasgow, Scotland; bound for New York.

    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 Hoy McCourt

    U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War. Born 1946, died 2001; buried at Isaac McCourt Cemetery, Webster Springs, West Virginia.

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

Showing 3 of 1,178 records for McCourt 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. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index. 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).

Australia215 records

215 records of the McCourt name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 90
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 57
  • Other Australian records 68
  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 Ellen McCourt

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Kinnear, sailing from Dublin in 1848. Native of Armagh. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1850.

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

    Arrived in Victoria in 1857 aboard the Charles Crooker, aged 63; 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 George McCourt

    Retired principal of Bacchus Marsh, Victoria; died 1990.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 215 records for McCourt 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). 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).

Canada19 records

19 records of the McCourt name in Canada
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 6
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 5
  • Other Canadian records 8
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John McCourt

    Came to Ontario in 1873 aboard the Polynesian, landing at Quebec, bound for Hamilton, Ontario; Irish.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Isabella McCourt

    Died 1929; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  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 Samuel McCourt

    Died in service in 1916.

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

Showing 3 of 19 records for McCourt in Canada.

Counts: City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); 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 McCourt 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 Sylvia McCourt

    Died 2000, aged 43; buried at St Thomas Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record H. McCourt

    King's (Liverpool Regiment). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Amelia Allan McCourt

    Died 2001, aged 68; buried at St Thomas Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

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

Showing 3 of 8 records for McCourt 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).

Netherlands1 record

1 record of the McCourt name in the Netherlands Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Peter Joseph McCourt

    Died 1959 in Haelen, aged 24.

    Open Archives, Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to McCourt.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McCourt 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 McCourt volume
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