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

Gedeon, 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 Gedeon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gedeon in America

Gedeon is the 16968th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gedeon surname appeared 1,675 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 Gedeon.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gedeon 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 Gedeon

The surname Gedeon is of French origin, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Hebrew personal name "Gideon," which means "hewer" or "destroyer" in reference to the biblical figure Gideon, who was a judge and military leader in ancient Israel.

Gedeon is a variant spelling of the French name Gédéon, which was introduced into France during the Crusades and gained popularity among Huguenot families. The name was initially concentrated in the regions of Normandy and Brittany, where many Huguenot communities were established.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Gedeon surname can be found in the Doomsday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Gediun," indicating its presence in England during the Norman conquest.

In the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the name Gedeon was Gedeon de Douai, a prominent French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Eighth Crusade alongside King Louis IX. Another historical figure was Gedeon Tallemant des Réaux (1619-1692), a French writer and memoirist known for his vivid accounts of 17th-century Parisian society.

During the Protestant Reformation, several Huguenot families with the surname Gedeon fled religious persecution in France and sought refuge in other European countries and the American colonies. One such individual was Jacques Gedeon (1592-1661), a French Huguenot who immigrated to the Netherlands and became a prominent merchant and diplomat.

In the 18th century, Jean-Baptiste Gedeon (1744-1803) was a French architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Paris, including the Théâtre de l'Odéon and the Hôtel de la Monnaie.

Another notable figure was Gedeon Baumann (1832-1894), a German-born American artist and lithographer who is best known for his Civil War illustrations and portraits of prominent figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant.

The surname Gedeon has been carried by individuals across various fields, including literature, art, architecture, and diplomacy, reflecting its diverse and rich heritage rooted in the medieval French and Huguenot traditions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gedeon

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

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

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

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