The O'Grady surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,306 people carried this name — #4,831 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 40,300 people counted. That is up 4% from 7,024 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the O'Grady surname
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Gráda (“descendant of Gráda”), a name meaning "noble." Compare Grady.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «O'Grady» (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 47 births for the O’Grady name in 1890.
They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Munster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 2,100 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: “Clare, Limerick, Dublin, and Roscommon.”
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In print
O'Grady in American newspapers,
1887–1907.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.
In print
O'Grady in Australian newspapers,
1830s–2000s.
49,340 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss O'Grady. The most, 9,434, date from the 1920s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.6 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss O'Grady.
Who carried it
People named O'Grady,
with a public archive behind them.
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Lani O'Grady 1954–2001 · television actor -
Lorraine O'Grady 1934–2024 · conceptual artist
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Paul O'Grady 1955–2023 · autobiographer
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0.
In the public record
People named O'Grady,
in the records of 3 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 States939 records
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 299
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 252
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 164
- New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 136
- Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 73
- Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 6
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 6
- U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
- U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
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Example: U.S. war memorial War record Martin Edward OgradyBorn 1946; from Jackson Heights, New York. U.S. Army, indirect fire infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Long An, South Vietnam.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Amilla OgradyArrived at New York in 1852 aboard the Parsce from Liverpool, aged 21; servant. From Ireland.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) -
Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record John J. OgradyBorn 1902 in New York. Enlisted 1942 at New York City; carpenter from Queens County.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain)
Showing 3 of 939 records for O'Grady 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) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). 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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain).
Australia636 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 450
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 175
- Tasmanian Names Index 6
- State Library of Western Australia indexes 4
- Queensland State Archives indexes 1
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Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record James OgradyArrived in Victoria in 1852 aboard the Joshua, aged 15; Irish.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Catherine B. OgradyGentlewoman of Ballarat, Victoria; died 1953.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Michael OgradyDied 1883 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 60.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 636 records for O'Grady in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: 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); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
Canada2 records
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Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Jill OgradyBuried in 1945 at Fairview Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Ontario.
City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. -
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Cecil OgradyBuried in 1967 at Fairview Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Ontario.
City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls.
Counts: City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to O'Grady.
- Oge 422 · U.S. census
- Oger 102 · U.S. census
- Ogier 404 · U.S. census
- Ogle 14,354 · U.S. census
- Oglesby 12,271 · U.S. census
- Ogletree 4,519 · U.S. census
- Oh 18,285 · U.S. census
- Ohana 394 · U.S. census
- Ohanessian 154 · U.S. census
- Ohanian 1,210 · U.S. census
- Ohannessian 254 · U.S. census
- O'Hara 21,710 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where O'Grady 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.