2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Goebert
A Germanic surname derived from a personal name meaning "bright spirit" or "full of energy".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 115 Americans carry the last name Goebert. That puts it at #155,682 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,980,473 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Goebert 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
115
1 in 2,980,473
Census rank
#155,682
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
100
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 100 bearers of the surname Goebert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 155682nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Goebert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Goebert
The surname Goebert is of German origin and can be traced back to the 12th century in the region of Saxony-Anhalt. It is believed to have derived from the Old German words "gau" meaning a rural district or region, and "bert" which was a common Germanic name suffix denoting brightness or fame.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Goebert appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from the region, dated to around 1180. Here, the name is spelled "Goubert" and refers to a landowner in the town of Quedlinburg.
By the 13th century, variations of the spelling had emerged, such as "Gouberth" and "Gowbert", likely due to regional dialects and scribal errors. These can be found in various church records and tax rolls from towns like Magdeburg and Halberstadt.
A notable early bearer of the name was Hans Goebert, a merchant and city councilor in Erfurt who lived from around 1450 to 1515. His name appears in the city's municipal records and he was involved in negotiating trade agreements with neighboring regions.
In the 16th century, the name Goebert began to spread beyond Saxony-Anhalt as a result of the Protestant Reformation and the migration of families seeking religious freedom. Johann Goebert, born in 1523 in Eisleben, was a Lutheran theologian who studied under Martin Luther and later became a pastor in Wittenberg.
Another prominent figure was Katharina Goebert, a 17th-century writer and poet from Braunschweig. She published a collection of religious poems in 1679 under the title "Geistliche Gedichte" and was known for her skilled use of the German language.
In the 18th century, Wilhelm Goebert, born in 1712 in Halle, was a respected jurist and legal scholar. He served as a judge in the city of Leipzig and published several influential works on civil law and legal philosophy.
As the name spread across German-speaking regions, it also took on local variations in spelling and pronunciation. In some areas, it was adapted to "Göbert" or "Goeberts", reflecting regional dialects and accents.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Goebert
Among Census respondents with the surname Goebert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Goebert 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 Goebert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.0% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Goebert
Goebert 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
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-5 bearers (-4.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,749 places
2020
#155,682
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
-8 bearers (-7.4%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 4,150 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-4.4%) | Down 14,749 places |
| 2020 | #155,682 | 100 | 0.03 | -8 bearers (-7.4%) | Down 4,150 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 Goebert 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 | #151,532 | #155,682 | -2.7% |
| Count | 108 | 100 | -7.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -16.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Goebert bearers went from 108 to 100 (-7.4% change). The surname moved down 4,150 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #155,682.
FAQ
Goebert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Goebert?
Name Census estimates that about 115 living Americans carry the surname Goebert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,980,473 residents.
How common is Goebert?
Goebert ranks #155,682 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 100 people with the surname Goebert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (115), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Goebert.
Has Goebert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Goebert went from 108 recorded bearers to 100. That is a decrease of 8 (-7.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #155,682.
What does the Census say about the background of Goebert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Goebert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Goebert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (92 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Goebert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.0%), Hispanic (7.0%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Goebert (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 Goebert mean?
A Germanic surname derived from a personal name meaning "bright spirit" or "full of energy". 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 Goebert (0.03 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 many people share the surname Goebert?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.