The McGehee surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,749 people carried this name — #5,984 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 51,300 people counted. That is up 1% from 5,712 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the McGehee surname

Variant of McGaughey.

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

In the first U.S. census, 1790

In 1790, McGehee was counted together with McGee: 154 families in all.

Each family is counted by its head. About 739 people lived in those households, 4.8 to a family on average. The census counted these spellings together: McGee, McGahee, McGahey, Mcgahey, McGahhy, McGahy, McGaighy, Mcgeahey, Mcgee, M'gee, McGeehee, McGees, McGehe, McGehee, McGehey, McGhee, Mage, Magee, Magehee, Megee, Megehee. 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

North Carolina 53
Pennsylvania 30
New York 19
Virginia 18
Maryland 12
South Carolina 10
Massachusetts 7
Maine 2
Vermont 1
Rhode Island 1
Connecticut 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

McGehee in American newspapers,
1923.

Newspaper page from The Washington Daily News carrying the name McGehee
The Washington Daily News 1923-03-15
Newspaper page from The Washington Daily News carrying the name McGehee
The Washington Daily News 1923-03-15
Newspaper page from The Washington Daily News carrying the name McGehee
The Washington Daily News 1923-03-15

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 31,049 pages in all carry the name.

Who carried it

People named McGehee,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Edward McGehee
    Edward McGehee 1786–1880
  • Ralph McGehee 1928–2020 · spy
  • Dan R. McGehee 1883–1962 · politician
  • Montford McGehee 1822–1895 · politician
  • Pat McGehee 1888–1946 · baseball player
  • Helen McGehee 1921–2020 · dancer

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

In the public record

People named McGehee,
in the records of 2 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 States346 records

346 records of the McGehee name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 249
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 81
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 8
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Wendell T. McGehee

    Born 1902 in Alabama. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana; waiter. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1972, buried at Lebanon National Cemetery, Kentucky.

    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 John Albert McGehee

    Born 1945; from San Jose, California. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Long An, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Joe L. McGehee

    U.S. Army veteran. Born 1936, died 1997; buried at Sts Peter and Paul Cemetery, Seneca, Kansas.

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

Showing 3 of 346 records for McGehee in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · 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); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Canada1 record

1 record of the McGehee name in Canada Nova Scotia Archives name indexes
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Lucius Polk McGehee

    Married 1903 in Digby, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to McGehee.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McGehee 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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