The McEwen surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,610 people carried this name — #4,659 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 38,800 people counted. That is up 3% from 7,420 in 2000.

Look up another surname

Share

What the name means

The meaning of the McEwen surname

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Eoghain (“son of Eòghan”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «McEwen» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In Scotland, 1880s

McEwan and McEwen, counted together, were 15 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.

That is about 1 in 667. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “Perthshire.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 591 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.

In Scotland’s registers today

McEwen was recorded 20 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1147th 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 the first U.S. census, 1790

In 1790, McEwen was counted together with McCune: 78 families in all.

Each family is counted by its head. About 432 people lived in those households, 5.5 to a family on average. The census counted these spellings together: McCune, M'Cuen, McEuen, McEwen, McEwin, McEwn, McKewan, McKewn, M Kewn, McKune, McQuown. 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

Pennsylvania 39
New York 8
Connecticut 7
South Carolina 7
Maryland 6
North Carolina 6
Vermont 2
Virginia 2
Maine 1

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. 252 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

McEwen in American newspapers,
1919–1920.

Newspaper page from Oxford Eagle carrying the name McEwen
Oxford Eagle 1920-03-25
Newspaper page from Oxford Eagle carrying the name McEwen
Oxford Eagle 1920-03-18
Newspaper page from Oxford Eagle carrying the name McEwen
Oxford Eagle 1919-04-10

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 43,649 pages in all carry the name.

In print

McEwen in Australian newspapers,
1830s–2000s.

90,251 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McEwen. The most, 36,548, 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 the Australian Capital Territory, at 2.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 23,709
Queensland 21,691
Victoria 18,655
South Australia 10,157
Western Australia 7,430
ACT (Canberra) 5,157
Tasmania 2,988
Northern Territory 317

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

Who carried it

People named McEwen,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John McEwen
    John McEwen 1900–1980 · head of government
  • James McEwen
    James McEwen 1872–1942 · association football player
  • Clifford McEwen
    Clifford McEwen 1896–1967 · flying ace
  • John Blackwood McEwen 1868–1948 · piano teacher

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

In the public record

People named McEwen,
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 States1,102 records

1,102 records of the McEwen name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 284
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 278
  • Other U.S. records 540
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Albert S. McEwen

    Born 1918 in New York. Enlisted 1943 at Syracuse; factory foreman from Oswego County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1996, buried at Fairdale Rural Cemetery, Fulton, New York.

    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 Larry C. McEwen

    Born 1931; from Erie County, New York. U.S. Army; killed in action 1950 in South Korea. Buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (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 Robert McEwen

    Arrived at New York in 1884 aboard the State of Nebraska from Glasgow and Larne, aged 22; smith. From Stranraer, England; bound for New York.

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

Showing 3 of 1,102 records for McEwen in the United States.

Counts: 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. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · 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); 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).

Australia471 records

471 records of the McEwen name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 252
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 75
  • Other Australian records 144
  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 McEwen

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Hercules, arriving 1832; ticket of leave 1836. Native of Antrim.

    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 Alex McEwen

    Arrived in Queensland in 1887 aboard the Roma, aged 26.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Myrtle Grace McEwen

    Retired teacher of E Hawthorn, Victoria; died 1970.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 471 records for McEwen 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) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · 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); 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).

Canada192 records

192 records of the McEwen name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 80
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 47
  • Other Canadian records 65
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Arnold Edward McEwen

    Buried in 1983 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 72.

    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 Ewan McEwen

    Died 1909 in Cape John, 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 Gordon Charles McEwen

    Died in service in 1945.

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

Showing 3 of 192 records for McEwen in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · 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 Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · 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); 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 Kingdom153 records

153 records of the McEwen name in the United Kingdom
  • Stirling Council burial records 135
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 14
  • Other British records 4
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Jane McEwen

    Buried in 1932 at Ballengeich Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 81.

    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 David Campbell McEwen

    Died 1917. Named in the University of Edinburgh roll of honour, 1914-1919.

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record C. McEwen

    Gunner, Service Corps. 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 153 records for McEwen in the United Kingdom.

Counts: Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. 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).

New Zealand8 records

8 records of the McEwen 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 John McEwen

    Died 1917, aged 65; buried at Linwood 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 Gordon Lionel McEwen

    Died 1988, aged 69; buried at Bromley 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 Pearl Ellen Tomina McEwen

    Died 1938, aged 29; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 8 records for McEwen 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).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to McEwen.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McEwen 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 McEwen volume
Scroll to Top