The McGovern surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 17,257 people carried this name — #2,095 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 17,100 people counted. That is up 3% from 16,739 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the McGovern surname

A surname from Irish or Scottish Gaelic.

Anglicized form of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Samhradháin (“son of Samhradhán”), diminutive of samhradh (“summer”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «McGovern» (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 102 births for the McGovern 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 4,500 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 10 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Fermanagh, Cavan, and Leitrim.”

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 65
Connacht 23
Leinster 13
Munster 1

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

McGovern was recorded 40 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 648th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 73. 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

McGovern in American newspapers,
1903–1912.

Newspaper page from The Pensacola Journal carrying the name McGovern
The Pensacola Journal 1912-06-19
Newspaper page from Evening Journal carrying the name McGovern
Evening Journal 1903-04-01
Newspaper page from The Courier-journal carrying the name McGovern
The Courier-journal 1903-04-01

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 86,236 pages in all carry the name.

In print

McGovern in Australian newspapers,
1840s–2000s.

14,911 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McGovern. The most, 5,175, 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 Queensland, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 5,564
Queensland 5,549
Western Australia 1,599
Victoria 912
South Australia 758
ACT (Canberra) 262
Tasmania 224
Northern Territory 14

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

Who carried it

People named McGovern,
with a public archive behind them.

  • George McGovern
    George McGovern 1922–2012 · autobiographer
  • Terry McGovern
    Terry McGovern 1880–1918 · boxer
  • Patrick Joseph McGovern 1937–2014 · inventor

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

In the public record

People named McGovern,
in the records of 6 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 States6,291 records

6,291 records of the McGovern name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2,566
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 1,506
  • Other U.S. records 2,219
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record James J. McGovern

    Born 1933; from New York, New York. U.S. Army, heavy weapons infantry leader; killed in action 1953 in North Korea. Buried at Cypress Hills National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Frederick J. McGovern

    Born 1918 in Rhode Island. Enlisted 1942 at Providence; plumber. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1983, buried at Rhode Island Veteran Memorial Cemetery, Exeter, Rhode Island.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (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 Kate McGovern

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Teutonic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 19; servant. From Belfast, Ireland; bound for New York.

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

Showing 3 of 6,291 records for McGovern 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. 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, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). 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); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia500 records

500 records of the McGovern name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 181
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 171
  • Other Australian records 148
  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 Rose McGovern

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the John Calvin, sailing from London in 1848. Native of Fermanagh. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1851.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Matilda McGovern

    Died 1924 in Hospital, Queenstown, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1924.

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

    Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1850. Married 1850 in Hobart, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 500 records for McGovern in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · 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); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Canada90 records

90 records of the McGovern name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 55
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 13
  • Other Canadian records 22
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Elizabeth Anne McGovern

    Buried in 1999 at Queen's Park Mausoleum, 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 Stephen Ellis McGovern

    Died 1972 in Lower Sackville, Halifax, 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 Thomas McGovern

    Died in service in 1915.

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

Showing 3 of 90 records for McGovern 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. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). 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 Kingdom31 records

31 records of the McGovern name in the United Kingdom
  • Stirling Council burial records 19
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 12
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Agnes McGovern

    Buried in 1901 at Ballengeich Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 53.

    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 P. McGovern

    Royal Munster Fusiliers. 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 Patrick McGovern

    Died 1993, aged 68; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

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

Showing 3 of 31 records for McGovern 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). 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 Zealand6 records

6 records of the McGovern name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 5
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Lawrence McGovern

    Died 1926, aged 89; buried at Bromley 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 Valmai Patricia McGovern

    Died 1986, aged 63; buried at Buffalo Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James McGovern

    Died 1911, aged 26; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 6 records for McGovern in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District 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).

Ireland2 records

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

    Died 1928, aged 59; buried at Dunmore, Co. Galway.

    Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Patrick McGovern

    Died 1949; buried at Dunmore, 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).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to McGovern.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McGovern 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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