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

Gavan, 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 Gavan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gavan in America

Gavan is the 59742nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gavan surname appeared 338 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Gavan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gavan 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 Gavan

The surname Gavan is believed to have originated from the Gaelic Gaelic personal name Gabhán, derived from the Old Irish words 'gabha' meaning 'blacksmith' and 'an' meaning 'little'. It is a name that can be traced back to medieval Ireland, where it was most prevalent in the provinces of Leinster and Munster.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gavan can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. It mentions a man named Gabhán Ua Duibhenaigh, who was the abbot of the monastery of Cluain Eidhneach (modern-day Clones, County Monaghan) in the early 12th century.

The Gavan name is also mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Cumbria, a series of financial records from the 12th and 13th centuries. These rolls document a family of landowners in the region, headed by one William Gavan, who held estates in the area in the late 1100s.

In the 16th century, several notable individuals bore the Gavan surname. One was John Gavan, a Protestant reformer and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland, who was born around 1505 and died in 1590. Another was Naghtan Gavan, an Irish chieftain and leader of the Gaelic nobility in County Leitrim, who played a role in the Nine Years' War in the late 1500s.

In the 17th century, the name Gavan appeared in various forms, such as Gavin, Gavine, and Gavyn. One prominent bearer of the name was James Gavin, a Scottish clergyman and author, who was born in 1614 and served as the Bishop of Galloway from 1679 until his death in 1699.

Another notable individual with the Gavan surname was Patrick Gavan, an Irish Jacobite soldier and author, who was born in County Leitrim in 1678. He served in the Irish Army of King James II and later wrote a memoir detailing his experiences during the Williamite War in Ireland.

As the Gavan name spread across the British Isles and beyond, it evolved into different spellings and variations, such as Gavigan, Gavigan, and Gaven. Despite these changes, the name's roots can be traced back to its Gaelic origins in medieval Ireland, where it was borne by blacksmiths, clergy, and members of the Gaelic nobility.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gavan

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

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

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

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