2000
#1,810
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,237
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.76
Uncommon Last name
Gold
A surname referring to someone who worked with gold or had gold-colored hair or a golden personality.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 21,399 Americans carry the last name Gold. That puts it at #1,888 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 6.24 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 16,017 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gold 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Gold with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
21K
1 in 16,017
Census rank
#1,888
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
6.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
19K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 18,661 bearers of the surname Gold in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 6.24 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1888th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gold, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Black (4.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gold
The surname Gold is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "golde," which referred to the precious metal. The name likely originated as a descriptive nickname for someone with golden hair or a fair complexion, or possibly as an occupational name for a goldsmith or someone involved in the gold trade.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Gold date back to the late 12th century. In the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire from 1192, there is a reference to a person named Golde de Salfleteby, indicating the presence of the surname in England during this time period.
Throughout the Middle Ages, variations of the name such as Golde, Goold, and Gould can be found in various records and documents. For example, the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire from 1327 mention a John Goolde, and the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1332 include a Thomas Golde.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was Sir John Gold, a prominent English landowner and Member of Parliament who lived in the 14th century. He was born in Lincolnshire around 1320 and served as the Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1361.
Another notable historical figure with the surname Gold was John Gold, a 16th-century English Protestant martyr. He was born in Somersetshire in the early 1500s and was burned at the stake in London in 1555 for his religious beliefs during the Marian Persecutions.
In the 17th century, Thomas Gold was an English politician and Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1640 to 1653. He played an active role in the English Civil War and was a supporter of the Parliamentarian cause.
Nathaniel Gold, born in 1655 in Topsfield, Massachusetts, was an early American settler and one of the founders of the town of Stratford, Connecticut. He served as a magistrate and was involved in the local government of the colony.
Another prominent American with the surname Gold was Thomas Gold, a 19th-century British-American astronomer and author. He was born in 1920 in Cambridge, England, and later emigrated to the United States, where he worked as a professor at Cornell University and made significant contributions to the study of astrophysics.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gold
Among Census respondents with the surname Gold, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Black (4.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Gold 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 Gold surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.2% · 16,269
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 791
- Black or African American4.2% · 782
- Two or more races2.6% · 480
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 290
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 49
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gold
Gold 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
#1,928
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,698
+461 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 6.34
Rank movement Down 118 places
2020
#1,888
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,661
-37 bearers (-0.2%)
Per 100,000 6.24
Rank movement Up 40 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,810 | 18,237 | 6.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,928 | 18,698 | 6.34 | +461 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 118 places |
| 2020 | #1,888 | 18,661 | 6.24 | -37 bearers (-0.2%) | Up 40 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 Gold 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 | #1,928 | #1,888 | 2.1% |
| Count | 18,698 | 18,661 | -0.2% |
| Per 100K | 6.34 | 6.24 | -1.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gold bearers went from 18,698 to 18,661 (-0.2% change). The surname moved up 40 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,928 to #1,888.
FAQ
Gold surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gold?
Name Census estimates that about 21,399 living Americans carry the surname Gold. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 16,017 residents.
How common is Gold?
Gold ranks #1,888 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 6.24 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 18,661 people with the surname Gold. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (21,399), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 6.24 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 6.24 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Gold.
Has Gold become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gold went from 18,698 recorded bearers to 18,661. That is a decrease of 37 (-0.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #1,928 to #1,888.
What does the Census say about the background of Gold?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gold, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Black (4.2%). 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 Gold in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.2% (16,269 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gold appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.2%), Hispanic (4.2%), Black (4.2%). 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 Gold (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 Gold mean?
A surname referring to someone who worked with gold or had gold-colored hair or a golden personality. 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 Gold (6.24 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 surname Gold?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.