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

Goodyear, 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 Goodyear surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goodyear in America

Goodyear is the 10910th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goodyear surname appeared 2,918 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 Goodyear.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goodyear 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 Goodyear

The surname Goodyear is of English origin, derived from the occupation of a maker or seller of goudis, which were a type of horses' leg armor made of leather. The name first appeared in the 13th century and is believed to have originated in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, where it is spelled as "Godiar." In the 14th century, the name appeared in various forms, such as "Godyer," "Godyere," and "Goudyere."

The surname Goodyear is also closely associated with the village of Goodyear in Derbyshire, which was originally known as "Godeyere" in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is likely that some individuals bearing the surname may have taken their name from this place.

In the 16th century, the name gained prominence with the rise of the Goodyear family of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. One notable member was John Goodyear (c. 1520-1594), a wealthy merchant and landowner who served as the Member of Parliament for Bury St. Edmunds.

Another prominent figure was Stephen Goodyear (1638-1658), an English clergyman and author who published several religious works, including "The Divine Authority of the Scriptures Asserted" in 1653.

In the 18th century, Charles Goodyear (1800-1860), an American inventor and manufacturing engineer, became famous for his groundbreaking work on vulcanizing rubber. He is widely regarded as the inventor of the modern rubber industry.

Other notable individuals with the surname Goodyear include William Goodyear (1799-1866), an English architect known for designing the Town Hall in Birmingham, and Sir George Goodyear (1858-1923), a British industrialist and Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goodyear

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

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

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