The O'Sullivan surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 11,818 people carried this name — #3,032 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 24,900 people counted. That is up 9% from 10,879 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the O'Sullivan surname
From Irish Ó Súilleabháin.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «O'Sullivan» (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 136 births for the O’Sullivan name in 1890.
Most were registered in Munster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 6,000 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “54 in Kerry, 45 in Cork, and 19 in Limerick.”
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'Sullivan in American newspapers,
1879–1957.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.
In print
O'Sullivan in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.
187,374 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss O'Sullivan. The most, 49,621, date from the 1900s. 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 Australian Capital Territory, at 1.9 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'Sullivan.
Who carried it
People named O'Sullivan,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Maureen O'Sullivan 1911–1998 · film actor -
Richard O'Sullivan 1944–2026 · actor -
John L. O'Sullivan 1813–1895 · editor -
Anthony O'Sullivan 1855–1920 · film actor
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0.
In the public record
People named O'Sullivan,
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 States1,263 records
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 394
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 318
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 268
- Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 136
- New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 129
- Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 15
- U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 1
- U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
-
Example: U.S. war memorial War record Michael J. OSullivanBorn 1930; from New York, New York. U.S. Army, light weapons infantry leader; killed in action 1952 in North Korea.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Mich OSullivanArrived at New York in 1865 aboard the Scotland from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 22; laborer. From Great-Britain, Ireland.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) -
Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record John E. OSullivanBorn 1921 in Massachusetts. Enlisted 1942 at Boston; office clerk from Suffolk County.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain)
Showing 3 of 1,263 records for O'Sullivan in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · 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, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0). 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).
Australia1,362 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 802
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 471
- Queensland State Archives indexes 51
- Tasmanian Names Index 37
- NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
-
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Helen OSullivanArrived in Victoria in 1854 aboard the Marian Moore, aged 26; English.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Daniel OSullivanDied 1894 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 27.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Eugene OSullivanFormer farmer of Preston, Victoria; died 1925.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 1,362 records for O'Sullivan 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). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).
Canada3 records
- City of Calgary cemetery records 1
- City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 1
- Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 1
-
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Christopher OSullivanBuried in 1995 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 Helen Zophia OSullivanBuried in 2000 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta.
City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. -
Example: civil register, 1880 Civil record Cornelius OSullivanListed at Halifax, Nova Scotia in the census and tax rolls of 1838.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · 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); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to O'Sullivan.
- Oster 6,259 · U.S. census
- Ostermann 956 · U.S. census
- Ostertag 969 · U.S. census
- Ostin 164 · U.S. census
- Ostrander 9,518 · U.S. census
- Ostrowski 7,005 · U.S. census
- Osuna 7,601 · U.S. census
- Oswald 14,322 · U.S. census
- Oswalt 5,198 · U.S. census
- Otero 20,937 · U.S. census
- Othon 452 · U.S. census
- Otis 7,549 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where O'Sullivan 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.