2000
#7,602
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,033
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.50
Rare Last name
Gallup
A surname derived from a place name meaning "village by a swift stream" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,384 Americans carry the last name Gallup. That puts it at #8,294 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.28 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 78,183 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gallup surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
4.4K
1 in 78,183
Census rank
#8,294
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,823 bearers of the surname Gallup in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.28 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8294th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gallup, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gallup
Among Census respondents with the surname Gallup, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Gallup bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Gallup surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.7% · 3,430
- Two or more races4.4% · 168
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 140
- Black or African American1.1% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gallup
Gallup appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#8,205
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,046
+13 bearers (+0.3%)
Per 100,000 1.37
Rank movement Down 603 places
2020
#8,294
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,823
-223 bearers (-5.5%)
Per 100,000 1.28
Rank movement Down 89 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,602 | 4,033 | 1.50 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,205 | 4,046 | 1.37 | +13 bearers (+0.3%) | Down 603 places |
| 2020 | #8,294 | 3,823 | 1.28 | -223 bearers (-5.5%) | Down 89 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Gallup surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #8,205 | #8,294 | -1.1% |
| Count | 4,046 | 3,823 | -5.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.37 | 1.28 | -6.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gallup bearers went from 4,046 to 3,823 (-5.5% change). The surname moved down 89 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,205 to #8,294.
FAQ
Gallup surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gallup?
Name Census estimates that about 4,384 living Americans carry the surname Gallup. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 78,183 residents.
How common is Gallup?
Gallup ranks #8,294 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.28 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,823 people with the surname Gallup. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,384), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.28 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.28 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Gallup.
Has Gallup become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gallup went from 4,046 recorded bearers to 3,823. That is a decrease of 223 (-5.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,205 to #8,294.
What does the Census say about the background of Gallup?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gallup, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gallup in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (3,430 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gallup appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.7%), Two or More Races (4.4%), Hispanic (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Gallup (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Gallup mean?
A surname derived from a place name meaning "village by a swift stream" in Old English. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Gallup (1.28 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Gallup?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Gallup at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.