2000
#6,429
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,874
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.81
Rare Last name
Mallon
An Irish surname derived from the Gaelic "Ó Máoil Eoin," meaning "descendant of a devotee of Saint John."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,345 Americans carry the last name Mallon. That puts it at #6,945 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.56 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 64,126 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mallon surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Mallon with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.3K
1 in 64,126
Census rank
#6,945
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,661 bearers of the surname Mallon in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.56 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6945th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mallon, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mallon
The surname Mallon is believed to have originated in Ireland. It is derived from the Gaelic personal name "Maolán," which means "bald" or "tonsured person." The name likely referred to a monk or someone who had taken religious orders.
Mallon is an Anglicized version of the Gaelic surname Ó Maoláin, which means "descendant of Maolán." The name can be traced back to County Donegal in Ulster, where it was particularly prevalent in the Barony of Raphoe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mallon can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. It mentions a "Maolán Ó Máille" who was killed in 1185 during a battle between rival Irish clans.
In the 16th century, the Mallon family held lands in the parish of Taughboyne, County Donegal. During the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century, many Mallons were displaced from their ancestral lands as English and Scottish settlers arrived in the region.
Notable individuals with the surname Mallon include:
1. James Mallon (1799-1877), an Irish-born American politician who served as the 11th Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland.
2. Therese Mallon (1901-1945), an Irish actress and singer who performed in London's West End and on Broadway.
3. Michael Mallon (1934-2020), an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Donegal senior team and won an All-Ireland medal in 1963.
4. Jim Mallon (born 1948), an American professional golfer who won the 1983 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic on the PGA Tour.
5. Seamus Mallon (1936-2020), an Irish politician who served as the Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and was a prominent figure during the Northern Ireland peace process.
The surname Mallon has been found in various spellings throughout history, including Mallen, Mallone, and Malloon, reflecting the phonetic variations in different regions of Ireland and beyond.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mallon
Among Census respondents with the surname Mallon, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Mallon bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Mallon surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.1% · 4,248
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 215
- Two or more races2.4% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 56
- Black or African American0.5% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mallon
Mallon appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#6,531
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,188
+314 bearers (+6.4%)
Per 100,000 1.76
Rank movement Down 102 places
2020
#6,945
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,661
-527 bearers (-10.2%)
Per 100,000 1.56
Rank movement Down 414 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,429 | 4,874 | 1.81 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,531 | 5,188 | 1.76 | +314 bearers (+6.4%) | Down 102 places |
| 2020 | #6,945 | 4,661 | 1.56 | -527 bearers (-10.2%) | Down 414 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Mallon surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #6,531 | #6,945 | -6.3% |
| Count | 5,188 | 4,661 | -10.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.76 | 1.56 | -11.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mallon bearers went from 5,188 to 4,661 (-10.2% change). The surname moved down 414 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,531 to #6,945.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Mallon
FAQ
Mallon surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mallon?
Name Census estimates that about 5,345 living Americans carry the surname Mallon. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 64,126 residents.
How common is Mallon?
Mallon ranks #6,945 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.56 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,661 people with the surname Mallon. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,345), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.56 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.56 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Mallon.
Has Mallon become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mallon went from 5,188 recorded bearers to 4,661. That is a decrease of 527 (-10.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,531 to #6,945.
What does the Census say about the background of Mallon?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mallon, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Mallon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (4,248 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mallon appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.1%), Hispanic (4.6%), Two or More Races (2.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Mallon (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Mallon mean?
An Irish surname derived from the Gaelic "Ó Máoil Eoin," meaning "descendant of a devotee of Saint John." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Mallon (1.56 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Mallon?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Mallon at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.