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

Gatlin, 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 Gatlin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gatlin in America

Gatlin is the 3329th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gatlin surname appeared 10,785 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Gatlin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gatlin 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 Gatlin

The surname Gatlin is believed to have originated in England, with records dating back to the 12th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old English word "gat," meaning "goat," and the suffix "-lin," which was commonly used to form diminutives or denote small things. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who kept or herded goats, or perhaps someone from a place associated with goats.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1195, which mention a person named William Gatlyn. The Gatlin surname also appears in various medieval records and documents, such as the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire from 1273, which lists a Robert Gatelyn.

In the 14th century, the name was sometimes spelled as Gatelyng or Gatelynge, reflecting the variations in spelling that were common during that time. The Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1327 include a reference to a John Gatelynge, while the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire from 1332 record a Thomas Gatelynge.

The Gatlin surname has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was John Gatlin (c. 1350-1418), an English clergyman who served as the Bishop of Winchester from 1404 until his death. Another notable figure was Richard Gatlin (c. 1465-1535), a Member of Parliament for the borough of Arundel in Sussex during the reign of King Henry VIII.

In the 17th century, there was Thomas Gatlin (c. 1620-1679), an English settler who arrived in Virginia in 1635 and became a prominent landowner and planter. His descendants played a significant role in the early history of Virginia and the American South.

Other notable individuals with the Gatlin surname include Richard Gatlin (1809-1896), a Baptist minister and educator who served as the president of Richmond College (now the University of Richmond) from 1859 to 1868, and Jesse Gatlin (1783-1838), a frontiersman and soldier who fought in the War of 1812 and the Creek War.

While the surname Gatlin has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, where it is particularly prevalent in the Southern states due to the early migration of English settlers to that region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gatlin

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

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

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

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