The O'Leary surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 22,329 people carried this name — #1,607 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 13,200 people counted. That is up 2% from 21,904 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the O'Leary surname
From Irish Ó Laoghaire.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «O'Leary» (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 64 births for the O’Leary 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 2,800 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere 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'Leary in American newspapers,
1911–1916.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 118,358 pages in all carry the name.
In print
O'Leary in Australian newspapers,
1830s–2000s.
39,429 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss O'Leary. The most, 6,724, date from the 1930s. South Australia 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 2.5 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'Leary.
Who carried it
People named O'Leary,
with a public archive behind them.
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Brian O'Leary 1940–2011 · blogger -
Daniel Florencio O'Leary 1801–1854 · diplomat -
Jean O'Leary 1948–2005 · LGBTQ rights activist
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0.
In the public record
People named O'Leary,
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 States2,576 records
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 896
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 814
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 415
- New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 287
- Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 107
- Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 29
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 20
- U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 5
- U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
- Sacramento County historic burials 1
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Example: U.S. war memorial War record Paul Francis OlearyBorn 1947; from New York, New York. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Tay Ninh, South Vietnam.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Maria OlearyArrived at New York in 1851 aboard the Favorite from Cork, aged 21; servant. From Great Britain.
U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) -
Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Arthur K. OlearyBorn 1920 in New York. Enlisted 1943 at New York City; office clerk from Bronx County.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain)
Showing 3 of 2,576 records for O'Leary in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · 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) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). 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).
Australia755 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 520
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 196
- Tasmanian Names Index 37
- NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
- State Library of Western Australia indexes 1
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Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Michael OlearyArrived in Victoria in 1886 aboard the Orient, aged 28; Irish.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: roll of the war dead War record Daniel OlearyNSW railway employee; served in the First World War with the 13th Battalion.
Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Johanna OlearyDied 1885 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 86.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 755 records for O'Leary in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (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); Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
Canada15 records
- City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 11
- Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 4
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Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Kathryn OlearyBuried in 1955 at Fairview Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Ontario.
City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. -
Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Philip Nesbit OlearyMarried 1946 in Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. -
Example: civil register, 1880 Civil record John OlearyListed at Newdiquoddy, Halifax, Nova Scotia in the census and tax rolls of 1838.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
Showing 3 of 15 records for O'Leary in Canada.
Counts: City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to O'Leary.
- O'Keefe 17,414 · U.S. census
- Okoński 626 · U.S. census
- Olazabal 539 · U.S. census
- Olczak 370 · U.S. census
- Oldham 12,928 · U.S. census
- Olds 7,670 · U.S. census
- Olejniczak 1,251 · U.S. census
- Olejnik 618 · U.S. census
- Olek 234 · U.S. census
- Oleś 1,552 · U.S. census
- Oleson 3,734 · U.S. census
- Olguin 10,660 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where O'Leary 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.