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

Gorden, 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 Gorden surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gorden in America

Gorden is the 10186th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gorden surname appeared 3,164 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 Gorden.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gorden 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 Gorden

The surname Gorden is of Scottish origin, derived from a place name that originally meant "green valley" in the Old English language. It is believed to have originated in the Borders region of Scotland, near the English border, sometime in the 12th or 13th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of this surname can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which were a series of homage rolls listing Scottish nobles and landholders who swore fealty to King Edward I of England. The name appears as "Gordon" in these rolls, which is an earlier spelling variation.

The Gordons were a prominent Scottish clan and noble family who held significant lands and power in the north-eastern regions of Scotland, particularly in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. The Clan Gordon's ancestral seat was Huntly Castle, and they were closely associated with the town of Huntly.

In the 14th century, Sir Adam Gordon was a notable figure who served as the Lord of Strathbogie and played a key role in the Wars of Scottish Independence against the English. Another famous bearer of this name was George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly (c.1532-1595), who was a powerful Scottish nobleman and Protestant leader during the Scottish Reformation.

Across the Atlantic, James Gordon (1615-1686) was an early Scottish settler in New Jersey and one of the founders of the town of Middletown. He served as the Deputy Governor of New Jersey from 1683 to 1684.

Other notable individuals with the surname Gorden include Lord George Gordon (1751-1793), a British politician and instigator of the Gordon Riots in London in 1780, and Charles George Gordon (1833-1885), a British army officer and administrator who gained fame for his defense of Khartoum during the Mahdist War in Sudan.

While the Gorden surname has Scottish roots, it has since spread to various parts of the world, especially through migration and the spread of the British Empire. However, its origins can be traced back to the green valleys of the Scottish Borders region, where it first emerged as a place name and eventually became a prominent clan and family name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gorden

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

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

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

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