Meaning, Origin & Family History (2024)

The meaning of Carrigan

Irish (Tipperary, Leitrim and Cavan): variant of Corrigan.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Carrigan in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Carrigan has seen a slight shift between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Carrigan was the 5163rd most popular surname in the United States with 6,234 individuals bearing this name. This figure represents 2.31 out of every 100k people. By 2010, the rank had fallen to 5529th, representing a decrease in popularity by 7.09%. However, interestingly, the count of people with the surname increased slightly to 6,290, but its proportion per 100k dropped to 2.13, showing a decrease by 7.79%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#5,163	#5,529	-7.09%
Count	6,234	6,290	0.9%
Proportion per 100k	2.31	2.13	-7.79%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Carrigan

As for the ethnic identity associated with the surname Carrigan, there have been some changes noted between 2000 and 2010, based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. The majority of the people with this surname identify as White, although the percentage dropped from 91.29% in 2000 to 89.84% in 2010. There was a significant increase in those identifying as having two or more races, going up from 1.17% to 2.02%, and those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native, which rose from 0.26% to 0.49%. The percentage of people who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic also went up, while the percentage of Black individuals decreased slightly.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.29%	89.84%	-1.59%
Black	4.86%	4.79%	-1.44%
Hispanic	1.78%	2.19%	23.03%
Two or More Races	1.17%	2.02%	72.65%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.64%	0.67%	4.69%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.26%	0.49%	88.46%

Carrigan ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Carrigan is British & Irish, which comprises 55.8% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (21.8%) and Eastern European (6.5%). Additional ancestries include Scandinavian, Italian, Ashkenazi Jewish, Spanish & Portuguese, and Korean.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN	COMPOSITION
British & Irish	55.8%
French & German	21.8%
Eastern European	6.5%
Other	15.9%

Possible origins of the surname Carrigan

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Carrigan have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY Location	Percentage
Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom	92.50%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom	92.50%
Greater London, United Kingdom	92.50%
Glasgow City, United Kingdom	92.50%
Merseyside, United Kingdom	92.50%

What Carrigan haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Carrigan is R-CTS241, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup R-CTS241 is descended from haplogroup R-M343. Other common haplogroups include R-M222 and R-FGC9807, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Mullin, Mellon, Hardcastle, Mcwilliams, Mcewan, Meehan, Braswell, Brophy, Macaulay, Whelan.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Carrigan surname are: H1, T2b, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

Paternal Haplogroup Origins R-M343

Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette

Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.

What do people with the surname Carrigan have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Carrigan" Surname 43.8%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Vanilla Ice Cream

Prefers vanilla flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Carrigan" Surname 41.7%

23andMe Users 36.7%

Like Very Cold Weather

Enjoys weather that is colder than 40 degrees Farenheit

"Carrigan" Surname 29.3%

23andMe Users 24.8%

Likes Sweets

Enjoys eating sweets more than other people.

"Carrigan" Surname 20.0%

23andMe Users 33.8%

Stawberry Ice Cream

Prefers strawberry flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Carrigan" Surname 12.5%

23andMe Users 14.7%

Likes Hoppy Beer

Like beer that has a strong hop flavor and aroma.

"Carrigan" Surname 19.6%

23andMe Users 20.0%