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

Goodfellow, 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 Goodfellow surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goodfellow in America

Goodfellow is the 12667th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goodfellow surname appeared 2,440 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Goodfellow.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goodfellow 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 Goodfellow

The surname Goodfellow is of English origin, deriving from the Middle English words "good" and "felaw" meaning "good companion." It first appeared in the 13th century as a descriptive nickname for someone who was considered a pleasant and agreeable person to be around.

The earliest recorded instance of the name Goodfellow can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire from 1273, which mentions a John Goodfellow. The name also appeared in various other medieval records such as the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire from 1301, listing a Robert Goodfelawe.

Variations in spelling were common in earlier times, and the name was also recorded as Goodfelaw, Goodfelowe, and Goodfellay. Over time, the spelling evolved into its modern form, Goodfellow.

One notable early bearer of the name was William Goodfellow, who was born in Somerset in the late 15th century and served as a Member of Parliament for Bath in 1529 and 1536.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Sir John Goodfellow, a wealthy merchant and alderman of London in the early 17th century. He was a benefactor to the city and established several charitable trusts.

In the 18th century, Robert Goodfellow (1718-1785) was a renowned English botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of plants and their classification.

The Goodfellow name also has a connection to the town of Goodfellowship in Yorkshire, which is believed to have derived its name from the surname itself, further reinforcing its meaning of good companionship.

One of the most famous bearers of the Goodfellow surname was Arthur Goodfellow (1836-1914), a British Army officer who served in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and later became a Lieutenant-General in the British Army.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goodfellow

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

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

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

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