Mcarthur
Son of Arthur, a name of Scottish origin combining the Gaelic "mac" meaning "son" with the Germanic name Arthur.
Name Census estimates that about 1,603 living Americans carry the first name Mcarthur. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mcarthur today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mcarthur births was 1942 (290 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mcarthur. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 213,821 Americans
Peak year
1942
290 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,471
Tracked since 1912
Census
Mcarthur in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,162 people with the first name Mcarthur, which placed it at #11,172 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,172
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,162 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mcarthur
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mcarthur is Black at 80.9%. The next largest groups are White (12.9%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mcarthur described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mcarthur at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.9% · 940
- White12.9% · 150
- Two or more races3.0% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 9
Popularity
Mcarthur: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mcarthur from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 980 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mcarthur by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mcarthur during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mcarthurs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the most babies named Mcarthur, while West Virginia, Oklahoma, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 78 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mcarthur
The given name Mcarthur has its origins in the Gaelic language and culture. It is a Scottish name that dates back to the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning son, and "Arthur" which is a variant of the name Arthur, a legendary British king from the 5th or 6th century.
Mcarthur was a common name among Scottish clans and families during the medieval period. It was often given to sons born to fathers named Arthur or with names that were variations of Arthur. The earliest recorded examples of the name Mcarthur can be found in ancient Scottish chronicles and records from the 12th and 13th centuries.
One of the earliest known references to the name Mcarthur is in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient Irish chronicle that mentions a Scottish king named Macarthur in the year 1187. However, it is unclear if this was a given name or a surname.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the given name Mcarthur. One of the most famous was Mcarthur Martin, a Scottish philosopher and historian who lived from 1609 to 1672. He wrote extensively on the history and culture of Scotland and was a respected scholar of his time.
Another notable Mcarthur was Mcarthur Campbell, a Scottish explorer and adventurer who lived from 1723 to 1796. He is best known for his travels and expeditions throughout the Scottish Highlands and his detailed accounts of the landscapes and people he encountered.
In the 19th century, Mcarthur Macgregor was a prominent Scottish politician and advocate for Scottish independence. He lived from 1812 to 1887 and served in the British Parliament, where he fought for greater autonomy and recognition for Scotland.
Mcarthur Stewart was a Scottish poet and playwright who lived from 1847 to 1923. He was a prominent figure in the Scottish literary renaissance of the late 19th century and wrote works that celebrated Scottish culture and traditions.
Another notable Mcarthur was Mcarthur Douglas, a Scottish architect who lived from 1865 to 1937. He was responsible for designing several iconic buildings in Scotland, including the Glasgow School of Art and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
People
Mcarthur + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mcarthur as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mcarthur: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mcarthur?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,603 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mcarthur going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 213,821 US residents.
Is Mcarthur a common name?
We classify Mcarthur as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,275 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mcarthur most popular?
The single biggest year for Mcarthur was 1942, when 290 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mcarthur is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mcarthur in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,162 people with the name Mcarthur, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,172 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mcarthur in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mcarthur?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mcarthur leans strongly male. 1,158 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 12 female bearers (1.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mcarthur?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mcarthur is Black at 80.9%. The next largest groups are White (12.9%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mcarthur most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mcarthur in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.9% (940 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mcarthur in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mcarthur a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mcarthur in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mcarthur still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mcarthur in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mcarthur can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Mcarthur?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.