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

Gent, 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 Gent surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gent in America

Gent is the 13759th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gent surname appeared 2,199 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 Gent.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gent 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 Gent

The surname Gent is of English origin and has its roots in the medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "gent," meaning people or individuals, which in turn comes from the Latin word "gens," meaning race or clan. The name likely originated as a descriptive surname, referring to someone who was considered part of the gentry or upper class.

In its earliest recorded uses, the name appeared in various spellings such as Gente, Gente, and Gent. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1176, where a person named William Gent is mentioned.

The name Gent also appears in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which were a census-like record of landowners in medieval England. This suggests that some individuals bearing the name were landowners or part of the local gentry during that time period.

Over the centuries, the surname Gent has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Sir Thomas Gent (c. 1480-1549), an English lawyer and Member of Parliament during the reign of Henry VIII. Another early bearer of the name was William Gent (c. 1535-1609), an English botanist and writer who published one of the earliest treatises on gardening.

In the 17th century, Thomas Gent (1693-1778) was a prominent printer and author in York, England, known for his works on local history and antiquities. A century later, Edward Gent (1795-1844) was a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.

Moving into more recent history, Sir Alfred Gent (1862-1936) was a British businessman and philanthropist who founded the electrical engineering company, GEC (General Electric Company), which later became part of the multinational corporation, Marconi.

Throughout its long history, the surname Gent has been associated with various place names and geographical locations in England, such as Gent in Shropshire and Gent's Hill in Lincolnshire, possibly reflecting areas where early bearers of the name resided or held land.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gent

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

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

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

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