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

Gallup, 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 Gallup surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gallup in America

Gallup is the 8205th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gallup surname appeared 4,046 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Gallup.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gallup 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 Gallup

The surname Gallup is believed to have originated in England, tracing its roots back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English words "gal" and "hop," which together translate to "valley of the boundary." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with a geographic location, potentially a settlement or region situated within a defined valley or borderland area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the renowned Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry refers to a landowner named Galup, whose holdings were located in the county of Norfolk. This historical record provides evidence of the name's existence during the Norman era in England.

Over the centuries, various spellings of the name have emerged, including Gallopp, Gallop, Gallup, and Gollop. These variations likely arose due to regional dialects, scribal errors, or individual preferences in spelling conventions. Interestingly, some of these alternative spellings bear resemblance to the word "gallop," which may have contributed to their adoption in certain cases.

Historically, the Gallup surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One such figure was Sir Henry Gallup (1589-1662), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Rye during the reign of Charles I. Another prominent bearer of the name was John Gallup (1616-1675), an early settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and a co-founder of the town of Stonington, Connecticut.

In the literary realm, the Gallup surname gained recognition through the works of American author and screenwriter Donald Gallup (1913-2000), best known for his biographies of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. Additionally, George Gallup (1901-1984), the renowned American statistician and inventor of the Gallup poll, brought significant attention to the name through his groundbreaking work in the field of public opinion research.

Across the Atlantic, the Gallup surname also found its way into Canadian history through the figure of Sir Gordon Gallup (1903-1992), a distinguished lawyer and jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario from 1964 to 1973.

Throughout its long history, the Gallup surname has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, ranging from politicians and settlers to authors and legal scholars. Its origins can be traced back to the medieval English landscape, where it may have initially denoted a person residing in a specific valley or borderland region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gallup

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

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 Gallup 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 Gallup 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 Gallup was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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