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

Gopal, 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 Gopal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gopal in America

Gopal is the 21535th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gopal surname appeared 1,212 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 Gopal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gopal 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 Gopal

The surname Gopal has its origins in the Indian subcontinent, specifically in the Hindu tradition. It is derived from the Sanskrit words "go" meaning cow or earth, and "pala" meaning protector or nourisher. The name can be interpreted to mean "protector of cows" or "protector of the earth," reflecting the reverence for cows and the connection with nature in Hinduism.

The earliest known references to the name Gopal can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Bhagavata Purana and the Srimad Bhagavatam, where it is used as a name for Lord Krishna, who is often depicted as a cowherd and the protector of cows. This association with Lord Krishna has contributed to the widespread use of the name among Hindu communities across India.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the surname Gopal can be found in the Khalimpur Copper Plate Inscription, dated around the 7th century CE, which mentions a person named Gopal among the list of landowners. Another early reference is in the Tezpur Rock Inscription from the 9th century CE, where a person named Gopal is mentioned as a royal officer.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Gopal. One of the earliest was Gopal Bhar, a 14th-century Bengali poet and philosopher known for his works on Vaishnava theology. In the 16th century, Gopal Nayak was a prominent ruler of the Gajapati Empire in present-day Odisha, India.

During the Indian independence movement, Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915) was a prominent social reformer and leader of the Indian National Congress. Gopal Swarup Pathak (1892-1972) was a renowned Hindi writer and scholar who made significant contributions to Hindi literature.

In the field of science, Gopal Prasad Chatterjee (1921-2002) was an Indian physicist and a pioneer in the field of nuclear physics, while Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya (1931-2022) was a renowned Indian statistician and a former President of the Indian Statistical Institute.

These are just a few examples of individuals with the surname Gopal who have made significant contributions in various fields throughout history. The name's deep-rooted connections with Hindu mythology and its widespread use across India have made it a recognizable and respected surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gopal

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

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

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

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