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

Gassaway, 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 Gassaway surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gassaway in America

Gassaway is the 16390th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gassaway surname appeared 1,756 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 Gassaway.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gassaway 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 Gassaway

The surname Gassaway has its origins in England and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "gærs" meaning grass and "weg" meaning way or path, referring to a grassy path or a person who lived near one.

Early records show that the name was originally spelled as "Garsway" or "Garsweye" in various medieval documents and charters. One of the earliest references to the name can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275, where a certain Robert de Garsweye is mentioned.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the name began to appear in other parts of England, particularly in the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. The earliest known bearer of the name Gassaway was Thomas Gassaway, who was born in Shropshire around 1420.

In the 16th century, the spelling of the name evolved to its modern form of "Gassaway". One notable individual from this period was John Gassaway, a merchant from London, who was born in 1542 and is recorded in the archives of the City of London.

During the 17th century, the Gassaway family established themselves in various parts of England, including Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. A prominent figure from this time was Sir William Gassaway (1605-1679), a wealthy landowner and Member of Parliament for Wiltshire.

As the British Empire expanded in the 18th and 19th centuries, some members of the Gassaway family emigrated to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia. One such individual was Robert Gassaway (1765-1842), a British settler who arrived in Virginia, United States, in the late 18th century.

Other notable individuals with the surname Gassaway include:

1. Henry Gassaway Davis (1823-1916), an American industrialist, politician, and banker from West Virginia.
2. Elizabeth Gassaway Brown (1846-1917), an American philanthropist and co-founder of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs.
3. George Gassaway McGill (1807-1892), an American politician and judge from Missouri.
4. William Gassaway Caperton (1909-1949), a United States Army Air Forces officer and recipient of the Medal of Honor during World War II.
5. Thomas Gassaway Watkins (1836-1922), an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from West Virginia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gassaway

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!