Given name & surname
Costello
“son of Oisdealbhach”
Costello is a surname with more than one origin.
Meaning & origin
What it means
As an Irish surname, Costello goes back to Irish Mac Oisdealbhaigh, meaning “son of Oisdealbhach.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Costello has more than one origin: as an Irish surname, it comes from Irish Mac Oisdealbhaigh; as a Serbo-Croatian or Slovene surname, it comes from Latin castrum.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Irish Mac Oisdealbhaigh (“son of Oisdealbhach”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1931. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Costello through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 72
- 67 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 1951
- 11 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #10,940 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,940 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 11 in 1951. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 174 as a first name in 2020; 30,728 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Costello’s family of names
In English usage, Costello as a surname has a related form in COSTILOW. In English usage, Costello as a surname has a related form in COSTLEY. In English usage, Costello as a surname has a related form in COSTLEY.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Costello, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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