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

Gautreaux, 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 Gautreaux surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gautreaux in America

Gautreaux is the 11348th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gautreaux surname appeared 2,780 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 Gautreaux.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gautreaux 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 Gautreaux

The surname Gautreaux has its origins in France, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a locational name, derived from the French placename Gautretot, a small village in the commune of Pavilly in the Normandy region of northern France.

The name is believed to have evolved from the Old French words "gaut" and "roi," which translate to "wood" and "king," respectively. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near or owned a wooded area belonging to a king or lord.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Livre Terrier de Philippe d'Alençon, a medieval manuscript from the 13th century, where it is spelled as "Gautretot." This document was a survey of landholdings and properties in the region of Normandy.

In the 17th century, many French families with the surname Gautreaux immigrated to Canada, particularly to the province of Acadia (now Nova Scotia and parts of New Brunswick). This was a result of the French colonization efforts in North America at the time. One notable figure was Michel Gautreaux, born in 1661 in Port-Royal, Acadia, who was among the earliest settlers in the region.

Another significant individual was Jacques Gautreaux, born in 1675 in Port-Royal, Acadia. He was a farmer and landowner, and his descendants can be traced throughout the Acadian and Cajun communities of Canada and Louisiana.

Following the Great Expulsion of the Acadians from Canada in the 1750s, many families with the surname Gautreaux settled in Louisiana, where the name became associated with the Cajun culture. Jean-Baptiste Gautreaux, born in 1737 in Acadia, was among the early Acadian settlers in Louisiana after the expulsion.

In France, the name Gautreaux has been documented in various historical records, including the Cahiers de l'État Civil (civil registration records) from the 16th to 18th centuries. One notable French figure was Pierre Gautreaux, a merchant and landowner born in 1698 in Bordeaux.

Over the centuries, the name has been spelled in various ways, including Gautreaux, Gautreau, Gautrot, and Gautrot-Tremblay, reflecting regional variations and linguistic evolutions. Despite these variations, the name's roots can be traced back to the village of Gautretot in Normandy, France.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gautreaux

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

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

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

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