2000
#118,236
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 136
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Gelet
A variant spelling of the French surname Gelez, derived from the Middle English word "gele" meaning frost or cold.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Gelet. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gelet surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Gelet in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gelet, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gelet
The surname GELET has its origins in France, tracing back to the 12th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old French word "geler," meaning "to freeze" or "to congeal." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to someone who lived in a particularly cold or icy region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Aubin d'Angers, a medieval manuscript from the 12th century, which mentions a person named Radulfus Gelet. This indicates that the name was already in use at that time in the area around Angers, France.
In the 13th century, the surname appears in various records from the regions of Normandy and Brittany. For example, a certain Guillelmus Gelet is mentioned in a charter from the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel in 1256. This suggests that the name had spread to different parts of northern France by that time.
During the 14th century, the name GELET can be found in tax rolls and census records from various cities and villages across France. One notable figure was Jean Gelet, a merchant from Paris who lived around 1380.
By the 15th century, the name had also made its way to other parts of Europe. In 1472, a Johannes Gelet is recorded in a document from the city of Cologne, Germany, indicating that the name had traveled across borders.
Another prominent individual with the surname GELET was Pierre Gelet, a French artist and engraver who was born in Paris in 1573 and died in 1636. His works, which included engravings and etchings, contributed to the development of printmaking in France during the Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, the name appears in various records from the Netherlands, such as the baptismal records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam, which mention a Joannes Gelet in 1642.
As the centuries progressed, the GELET surname continued to be present in various regions of Europe, with notable individuals bearing the name in different fields, such as Étienne Gelet, a French lawyer and legal scholar who lived from 1703 to 1782, and Jean-Baptiste Gelet, a French architect and engineer born in 1768.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gelet
Among Census respondents with the surname Gelet, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Gelet bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Gelet surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.9% · 102
- Two or more races4.5% · 5
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gelet
Gelet appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#136,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 123
-13 bearers (-9.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 18,213 places
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
-12 bearers (-9.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 12,216 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #118,236 | 136 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #136,449 | 123 | 0.04 | -13 bearers (-9.6%) | Down 18,213 places |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | -12 bearers (-9.8%) | Down 12,216 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Gelet surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #136,449 | #148,665 | -9.0% |
| Count | 123 | 111 | -9.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gelet bearers went from 123 to 111 (-9.8% change). The surname moved down 12,216 positions in the national ranking, going from #136,449 to #148,665.
FAQ
Gelet surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gelet?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Gelet. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Gelet?
Gelet ranks #148,665 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 111 people with the surname Gelet. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Gelet.
Has Gelet become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gelet went from 123 recorded bearers to 111. That is a decrease of 12 (-9.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #136,449 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Gelet?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gelet, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Black (0.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gelet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gelet appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.9%), Two or More Races (4.5%), Black (0.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Gelet (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Gelet mean?
A variant spelling of the French surname Gelez, derived from the Middle English word "gele" meaning frost or cold. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Gelet (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Gelet?
Want to know how many people have the surname Gelet? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.