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O'donell Family History

O'donell Name Meaning

Historically, surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups - by occupation, place of origin, clan affiliation, patronage, parentage, adoption, and even physical characteristics (like red hair). Many of the modern surnames in the dictionary can be traced back to Britain and Ireland.


Similar surnames: O'donnell, O'connell, O'donald, O'donnel, Mcdonell, Mcdowell, Odell

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Where is the O'donell family from?

You can see how O'donell families moved over time by selecting different census years. The O'donell family name was found in the USA, Canada, and Scotland between 1851 and 1920. The most O'donell families were found in USA in 1880. In 1911 there were 2 O'donell families living in British Columbia. This was 100% of all the recorded O'donell's in Canada. British Columbia had the highest population of O'donell families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the O'donell surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your O'donell ancestors do for a living?

Census records can tell you a lot of little known facts about your O'donell ancestors, such as occupation. Occupation can tell you about your ancestor's social and economic status.

What O'donell family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 13,000 census records available for the last name O'donell. Like a window into their day-to-day life, O'donell census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for O'donell

Passenger Lists

There are 1,000 immigration records available for the last name O'donell. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 1,000 military records available for the last name O'donell. For the veterans among your O'donell ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all O'donell military records

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