Find out how popular the last name Gaétan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Gaétan.

Gaétan, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Gaétan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gaétan in America

Gaétan is the 81458th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gaétan surname appeared 232 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Gaétan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gaétan to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Gaétan

The surname GAETAN has its origins in Italy, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Italian male given name Gaetano, which is itself a derivation of the Latin name Caietanus, meaning "from Caieta" – an ancient maritime town located in the modern province of Latina, Lazio.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname GAETAN can be found in historical records from the late 13th century, where it appears as Gaietano, a variant spelling. These early occurrences were primarily concentrated in the regions of Campania and Lazio, which were home to the town of Caieta.

One notable early bearer of the surname was Pietro Gaetano di Anagni, a prominent Italian jurist and canonist who lived in the 13th century. Born in Anagni, a town in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, he was a key figure in the development of canon law during the reign of Pope Innocent IV.

In the 14th century, the surname began to spread more widely across Italy, appearing in various forms such as Gaietano, Gaetani, and Gaetano. During this time, the powerful Gaetani family rose to prominence in Rome, with several members holding influential positions within the Catholic Church and the Papal States.

One of the most famous members of this family was Benedetto Gaetani, who later became Pope Boniface VIII (c. 1235-1303). He played a significant role in the conflict between the Papacy and the French monarchy, and his reign was marked by the issuance of the famous Papal bull Unam Sanctam, which asserted the supremacy of the spiritual authority over the temporal.

Another notable figure was Enrico Gaetani (1384-1448), an Italian Renaissance humanist and diplomat from Pisa. He served as the ambassador of the Republic of Florence to various European courts and played a crucial role in the Council of Constance, which aimed to resolve the Western Schism in the Catholic Church.

As the surname spread throughout Italy, it also made its way to other parts of Europe, particularly in areas with strong Italian cultural and commercial influences. In France, for instance, the surname appeared as Gaetan or Gaëtan, while in Spain it took the form Gaetano or Gaetán.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gaétan

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Gaétan.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Gaétan was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Gaétan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Gaétan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Gaétan, please contact us.

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