The McMinn surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,993 people carried this name — #6,752 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 59,200 people counted. That is up 2% from 4,880 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the McMinn surname

Anglicized form of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Méinn.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «McMinn» (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 13 births for the McMinn name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 600 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. One of them was indexed under another spelling of the name. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “8 in Antrim.”

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

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 13

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

McMinn was recorded 19 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1203rd most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 27. 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

McMinn in American newspapers,
1911–1925.

Newspaper page from The Washington Times carrying the name McMinn
The Washington Times 1918-12-23
Newspaper page from The Washington Daily News carrying the name McMinn
The Washington Daily News 1925-06-29
Newspaper page from The Bamberg Herald carrying the name McMinn
The Bamberg Herald 1911-03-30

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 22,395 pages in all carry the name.

In print

McMinn in Australian newspapers,
1830s–2000s.

8,880 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McMinn. The most, 1,558, 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 Northern Territory, at 26.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 3,256
South Australia 2,619
Tasmania 963
Victoria 761
Queensland 668
Northern Territory 321
Western Australia 214
ACT (Canberra) 57

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

Who carried it

People named McMinn,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Joseph McMinn
    Joseph McMinn 1758–1824 · governor
  • Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn
    Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn 1841–1924 · beamter
  • Paddy McMinn
    Paddy McMinn 1874–1947 · rugby union player
  • Alexander McMinn 1842–1919 · teacher
  • William McMinn 1844–1884 · surveyor
  • Edward Graham McMinn d. 1883 · politician

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

In the public record

People named McMinn,
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 States418 records

418 records of the McMinn name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 197
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 68
  • Other U.S. records 153
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Cornell McMinn

    Born 1916 in Alabama. Enlisted 1941 at Fort McClellan; farm hand from Cullman County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at Good Hope Cemetery, Cullman, Alabama.

    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 Richard Lee McMinn

    Born 1948; from Marietta, Pennsylvania. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1970 in Binh Dinh, South Vietnam.

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

    Arrived at New York in 1850 aboard the Centurian from Liverpool, aged 20; laborer. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)

Showing 3 of 418 records for McMinn 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, 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). 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).

Australia217 records

217 records of the McMinn name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 88
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 55
  • Other Australian records 74
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Alexander Washington McMinn

    Born 1844 in Hobart, Tasmania. Married 1869 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 24.

    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 Sarah McMinn

    Arrived in Victoria in 1885 aboard the Iberia, aged 26; Scottish.

    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 John Graeme McMinn

    Manager of Altona North, Victoria; died 1998.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 217 records for McMinn 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: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (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 McMinn name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 11
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 7
  • Other Canadian records 8
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Percival James McMinn

    Died 1989, aged 66; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Morris McMinn

    Died 1962 in Conway, Digby, 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 Alton McMinn

    Died in service in 1918.

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

Showing 3 of 26 records for McMinn in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · 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 Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · 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 Kingdom21 records

21 records of the McMinn name in the United Kingdom
  • Stirling Council burial records 13
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 8
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Hugh McMinn

    Died 1980, aged 47; buried at Bannockburn 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 W. McMinn

    Cheshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    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 Robert McMinn

    Buried in 1987 at St Thomas Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 80.

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

Showing 3 of 21 records for McMinn 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 Zealand3 records

3 records of the McMinn 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 Cecily Helen McMinn

    Died 1925, aged 48; 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 Jane McMinn

    Died 1904, aged 50; buried at Addington 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 Ray McMinn

    Died 2000, aged 68; buried at Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

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 McMinn.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McMinn 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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