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

Goodfriend, 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 Goodfriend surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goodfriend in America

Goodfriend is the 31960th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goodfriend surname appeared 722 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 Goodfriend.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goodfriend 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 Goodfriend

The surname GOODFRIEND originated in England during the late medieval period, likely in the 13th or 14th century. It is derived from the Middle English words "good" and "friend," which were used to describe someone who was considered a loyal and trustworthy companion or ally. The name may have initially been used as a descriptive nickname before becoming a hereditary surname.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name GOODFRIEND can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, a census-like record of landowners and property holders in England. In this document, a Robert Godefriend is listed as holding land in the county of Oxfordshire.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the name appeared in various spellings, such as Godfrynd, Goodfrend, and Godefrende, reflecting the inconsistencies in English spelling and pronunciation at the time. It is possible that some of these variations were influenced by the similar-sounding French surname "Bonami," which also means "good friend."

In the 16th century, the GOODFRIEND surname appeared in several parish records and court documents across different regions of England, including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Gloucestershire. One notable bearer of the name was John Goodfriend, a merchant and alderman in the city of York, who was recorded in the city's archives in the late 1500s.

A branch of the GOODFRIEND family settled in the village of Stratton Audley in Oxfordshire, where they held land and were involved in the local community for several generations. In the 17th century, a William Goodfriend was a prominent landowner and served as a churchwarden in the village.

Other notable individuals with the GOODFRIEND surname include Robert Goodfriend (1605-1673), a clergyman and author from Lincolnshire, and Eliza Goodfriend (1780-1864), a philanthropist and educator from Yorkshire who founded several schools for underprivileged children.

As the GOODFRIEND family spread across different regions of England, variations in spelling continued to emerge, including Goodfriend, Goodfrend, and Godfriend. Some branches of the family also adopted the spelling GOODFELLOW, which has a similar meaning and origin.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goodfriend

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Goodfriend, 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!