Looney family name history and map
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Looney in 1911 Ireland
The 1911 Census recorded 1,036 people named Looney in Ireland, about 0.024% of everyone living in the country at the time and the 764th most common surname overall. The name was split fairly evenly between men and women: 522 men and 512 women. (A small number, 2, had no sex recorded.)
Counties with Looney in Ireland
The Looneys were heavily concentrated in Cork, home to 53.5% of them (554 people). Next came Kerry (194), Clare (180), Limerick (26) and Dublin (23).
Looney average age in 1911
The average Looney in 1911 was 28.1 years old, 28.4 for men and 27.9 for women; a touch younger than the national averages of 29.6 for men and 30.5 for women. That low figure reflects just how many children there were in Edwardian Ireland, along with high infant mortality and the limits of public health at the time. For comparison, average life expectancy in Ireland today is around 83.
Looney literacy in 1911
Of the Looneys whose literacy was recorded, 80.3% could both read and write, 3% could read but not write, and 16.7% could do neither. Men came out slightly ahead, 81.9% reading and writing against 78.6% of women. Bear in mind these figures include young children; the census itself only counted people aged nine and over when calculating illiteracy, on the grounds that it was unfair to label a child illiterate before they'd had a chance to learn.
Looney common first names
The most common male names were John (88), Patrick, Daniel, Michael and Timothy. For women it was Mary (78), followed by Margaret, Ellen, Bridget and Catherine.
Looney occupations in 1911
The most common entry on a Looney's census form was "Scholar"; 28.4% (294) were children at school. Among the rest, the most common occupations were farmer (12.8%), general labourer (4.9%), farm labourer (3.3%) and domestic servant (1.9%). Grouped by sector, agriculture accounted for 16.5% of all Looneys, followed by general labourers, domestic service and retail & commerce.
What religion is Looney?
Looneys were overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, 96.2% of them. The remainder were mostly Anglican (2.5%) and Presbyterian (1%).
Visitor Notes
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Added by
Pete F
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Looney statistics (1911)
Number: 1,036
Rank: 764
Average Age: 28
Looney in the USA (2020)
Number: 12,170
Rank: 2,882
Note: If there were less than 100 in the USA census it will show as zero.