Goble last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Goble

Derived from a Middle English nickname for a heavy eater or a greedy person, from "gobbel" meaning "greedy."

Goble, 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 Goble surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goble in America

Goble is the 3947th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goble surname appeared 9,022 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Goble.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goble 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 3947 3793 3.98%
Count 9,022 8,580 5.02%
Proportion per 100k 3.06 3.18 -3.85%

The history of the last name Goble

The surname Goble originated in England, with its earliest records dating back to the 12th century. The name is believed to derive from the Old English word "gobel," meaning "fork" or "forked piece of land." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived on a forked piece of land or near a fork in a river or road.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1190, which mention a person named Warin Gobel. The Hundred Rolls of 1273 also record a Robert Gobel residing in Oxfordshire.

During the 13th century, the name appeared in various spellings, such as Gobel, Gobel, and Gobylle, reflecting the variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. The earliest known spelling of the modern form "Goble" can be traced back to a record from 1327 in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire.

In the 14th century, the name Goble appeared in the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire, suggesting its presence in that region. The Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1524 also mention a John Goble from Gloucestershire.

One notable figure with the surname Goble was Sir William Goble (1570-1639), a successful merchant and alderman in London. He served as the Sheriff of London in 1616 and was knighted by King James I in 1618.

Another prominent individual was John Goble (1725-1804), an English writer and translator who is best known for his English translation of the works of the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

In the 19th century, James Goble (1829-1908) was a prominent English architect who designed several notable buildings, including the Town Hall in Croydon and the Royal Masonic School for Boys in Bushey.

Another noteworthy individual was Mary Goble (1856-1940), an English philanthropist and suffragette who campaigned for women's right to vote and established several charitable organizations to support underprivileged women and children.

Furthermore, Warwick Goble (1862-1943) was a renowned English illustrator and artist, best known for his illustrations of children's books, particularly those by L. Frank Baum and Andrew Lang.

While the surname Goble has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia, due to migration and exploration in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goble

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

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 Goble was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 94.47% 8,523
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.79% 71
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.74% 67
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.64% 58
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.47% 133
Hispanic Origin 1.88% 170

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 Goble has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 94.47% 96.47% -2.09%
Black 0.79% 0.56% 34.07%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.74% 0.45% 48.74%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.64% 0.42% 41.51%
Two or More Races 1.47% 1.00% 38.06%
Hispanic 1.88% 1.10% 52.35%

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

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Goble last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/goble-surname-popularity/.

"Goble last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/goble-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Goble last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/goble-surname-popularity/.

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