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

Gladstone, 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 Gladstone surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gladstone in America

Gladstone is the 12724th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gladstone surname appeared 2,426 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 Gladstone.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gladstone 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 Gladstone

The surname Gladstone originated in England, deriving from the Old English words "glæd" meaning "bright" or "shining", and "stān" meaning "stone". It is believed to have first emerged as a toponymic name, referring to a person who lived near a shining or bright stone.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England, there are several entries for places named Gladston or Gledestan, which may have been the source of the surname. These place names likely referred to settlements near a notable bright or shining stone.

The earliest known recorded use of the surname Gladstone dates back to the 13th century. In the Pipe Rolls of Lancashire from 1246, there is a reference to a person named William de Gledestan.

During the Middle Ages, the name was sometimes spelled as Gladstanes, Gledstanes, or Gledstane, reflecting the different regional dialects and spelling variations of the time.

One notable early bearer of the Gladstone surname was Sir John Gladstone (1764-1851), a Scottish merchant and plantation owner in British Guiana. He was the father of the famous British Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), who served four terms as Prime Minister in the late 19th century.

Another prominent figure with the Gladstone surname was Sir John Gladstone (1877-1944), a British politician and member of parliament. He was the great-grandson of the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.

In the 17th century, there was a John Gladstone (1615-1688), who was an English Puritan minister and author of several religious works.

Another notable figure was George Gladstone (1809-1962), a British businessman and philanthropist who founded the shipping company Gladstone, Lilley & Co.

The surname Gladstone has also been associated with several places in various parts of the world, such as Gladstone, Oregon in the United States, and Gladstone, Queensland in Australia, both named after the British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gladstone

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

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

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

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