2000
#128,797
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Goettling
An Americanized spelling of the German surname meaning "from Gottlieben", a town in Switzerland.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Goettling. That puts it at #154,755 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,929,524 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Goettling 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
117
1 in 2,929,524
Census rank
#154,755
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
102
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 102 bearers of the surname Goettling in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154755th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Goettling, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Goettling
The surname GOETTLING is of German origin, originating in the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to have originated in the regions of northern Germany, particularly in areas such as Lower Saxony, Bremen, and Hamburg. The name is derived from the German word "Göttling," which is a diminutive form of the word "Gott," meaning "God."
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name GOETTLING can be found in the chronicles of the city of Lübeck, dated around 1450, where a certain Johannes Goettling is mentioned as a merchant and citizen of the city. Another early record comes from the church records of the village of Wittingen, where a family by the name of Goettling is mentioned as residing in the area in the late 15th century.
The name GOETTLING is also associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Hans Goettling, a Lutheran pastor and theologian who lived in the 16th century (1521-1589) and was known for his writings on the Protestant Reformation. Another notable bearer of the name was Johann Friedrich Goettling (1753-1809), a German classical scholar and philologist who taught at the University of Jena.
In the 19th century, Carl Wilhelm Goettling (1792-1869) was a German jurist and politician who served as the Minister of Justice for the Kingdom of Hanover. Around the same time, Johann Friedrich August Goettling (1800-1866) was a German classical philologist and librarian who worked at the University of Jena and the Royal Library in Dresden.
One of the most prominent figures with the surname GOETTLING was the German mathematician and astronomer Karl Goettling (1868-1935), who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics and the study of the motion of planets and comets.
While the name GOETTLING originated in northern Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the country and even to other Germanic-speaking regions, such as Austria and Switzerland. However, the name remains relatively uncommon outside of these areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Goettling
Among Census respondents with the surname Goettling, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Goettling 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 Goettling surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.2% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 3
- Black or African American2.0% · 2
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Goettling
Goettling 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
#150,452
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
-13 bearers (-10.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 21,655 places
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-7 bearers (-6.4%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 4,303 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #128,797 | 122 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #150,452 | 109 | 0.04 | -13 bearers (-10.7%) | Down 21,655 places |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -7 bearers (-6.4%) | Down 4,303 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 Goettling 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 | #150,452 | #154,755 | -2.9% |
| Count | 109 | 102 | -6.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Goettling bearers went from 109 to 102 (-6.4% change). The surname moved down 4,303 positions in the national ranking, going from #150,452 to #154,755.
FAQ
Goettling surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Goettling?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Goettling. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Goettling?
Goettling ranks #154,755 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 102 people with the surname Goettling. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (117), 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 Goettling.
Has Goettling become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Goettling went from 109 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 7 (-6.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #150,452 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Goettling?
Among Census respondents with the surname Goettling, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Goettling in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.2% (92 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Goettling appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.2%), Hispanic (3.9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Goettling (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 Goettling mean?
An Americanized spelling of the German surname meaning "from Gottlieben", a town in Switzerland. 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 Goettling (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 have the last name Goettling?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Goettling at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.