2000
#21,958
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,101
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.41
Rare Last name
Mccubbins
An Anglicized form of the Irish surname Mac Iomhair meaning "son of the navigator or mariner".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,292 Americans carry the last name Mccubbins. That puts it at #23,267 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.38 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 265,290 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mccubbins 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.
Bearers in the US
1.3K
1 in 265,290
Census rank
#23,267
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,127 bearers of the surname Mccubbins in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.38 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 23267th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mccubbins, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mccubbins
The surname McCubbins is of Scottish origin, with roots tracing back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the lands of Cumbernauld, a town located in the central Lowlands of Scotland. The name is thought to be derived from the Gaelic phrase "Mac Cuibhinn," which translates to "son of the tawny one" or "son of the brown-haired one."
The earliest recorded use of the name can be found in the Scottish Clan and Family Records, where a John McCubbyn is mentioned as owning lands in Stirlingshire in the year 1534. Another historical reference comes from the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, which document a William McCubbin in the year 1567.
In the 17th century, the name appears in various records across Scotland, including the Old Parochial Registers. Notable individuals from this era include Robert McCubbins, born in 1625 in Lanarkshire, and Margaret McCubbins, who was recorded in the Canongate Parish Records of Edinburgh in 1678.
As the surname spread beyond Scotland, it underwent various spelling variations, such as McCubin, McCubbin, and McCubbing. One notable bearer of the name was William McCubbin (1766-1833), a Scottish-born merchant and landowner who settled in Virginia, United States, in the late 18th century.
In the 19th century, the McCubbins name gained prominence in literature with the publication of the novel "The McCubbins: A Novel of Frontier Life" by Emerson Bennett in 1856. This work depicted the adventures of a family bearing the surname in the American West.
Other notable individuals with the surname include:
1. Samuel McCubbins (1830-1907), an American physician and politician who served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
2. Michael McCubbins (born 1949), an American political scientist and professor at the University of California, San Diego.
3. William McCubbins (1788-1857), a Scottish-born farmer and landowner who settled in Upper Canada (now Ontario, Canada) in the early 19th century.
4. Thomas McCubbins (1820-1892), an Irish-born soldier who served in the American Civil War and received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg.
5. Mary McCubbins (1857-1932), a Scottish-born author and educator who founded several schools for girls in New Zealand in the late 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mccubbins
Among Census respondents with the surname Mccubbins, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Mccubbins 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 Mccubbins surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.0% · 1,037
- Two or more races3.2% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 31
- Black or African American1.6% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mccubbins
Mccubbins 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
#21,700
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,200
+99 bearers (+9.0%)
Per 100,000 0.41
Rank movement Up 258 places
2020
#23,267
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,127
-73 bearers (-6.1%)
Per 100,000 0.38
Rank movement Down 1,567 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #21,958 | 1,101 | 0.41 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #21,700 | 1,200 | 0.41 | +99 bearers (+9.0%) | Up 258 places |
| 2020 | #23,267 | 1,127 | 0.38 | -73 bearers (-6.1%) | Down 1,567 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 Mccubbins 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 | #21,700 | #23,267 | -7.2% |
| Count | 1,200 | 1,127 | -6.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.41 | 0.38 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mccubbins bearers went from 1,200 to 1,127 (-6.1% change). The surname moved down 1,567 positions in the national ranking, going from #21,700 to #23,267.
FAQ
Mccubbins surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mccubbins?
Name Census estimates that about 1,292 living Americans carry the surname Mccubbins. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 265,290 residents.
How common is Mccubbins?
Mccubbins ranks #23,267 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.38 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,127 people with the surname Mccubbins. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,292), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.38 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.38 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Mccubbins.
Has Mccubbins become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mccubbins went from 1,200 recorded bearers to 1,127. That is a decrease of 73 (-6.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #21,700 to #23,267.
What does the Census say about the background of Mccubbins?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mccubbins, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Mccubbins in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (1,037 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mccubbins appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.0%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Mccubbins (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 Mccubbins mean?
An Anglicized form of the Irish surname Mac Iomhair meaning "son of the navigator or mariner". 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 Mccubbins (0.38 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 have the surname Mccubbins?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.