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

Goodchild, 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 Goodchild surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goodchild in America

Goodchild is the 23837th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goodchild surname appeared 1,060 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Goodchild.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goodchild 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 Goodchild

The surname GOODCHILD is of English origin and it dates back to the late 12th century. It is a descriptive surname referring to a well-behaved or virtuous child. The name is derived from the Old English words 'god' meaning good and 'child' meaning a young person or offspring.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname GOODCHILD can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire from the year 1195, where a person named William Godchild is mentioned. The surname also appears in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk in 1273, where it is spelled as 'Godechild'.

During the medieval period, the GOODCHILD surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk in eastern England. It is believed that the name may have originated in these areas.

In the 14th century, the GOODCHILD surname is found in various historical records such as the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in 1327, where a Thomas Godchild is listed. The name also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Norfolk in 1381, where it is spelled as 'Goodechild'.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the GOODCHILD surname was Sir John Goodchild (c. 1470 - 1542), who served as a Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire during the reign of Henry VIII. Another prominent figure was Richard Goodchild (1558 - 1630), an English clergyman and scholar who served as the Rector of St. Stephen's Church in Bristol.

Other notable individuals with the GOODCHILD surname include William Goodchild (1796 - 1870), an English architect who designed several churches and public buildings in London, and James Goodchild (1848 - 1925), a British geologist and paleontologist who made significant contributions to the study of fossil fish and reptiles.

The GOODCHILD surname has also been found in various localized variants, such as Goodchilde, Godchild, and Godchilde, reflecting the different spellings used throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goodchild

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

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!