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

Gosselin, 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 Gosselin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gosselin in America

Gosselin is the 5681st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gosselin surname appeared 6,104 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Gosselin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gosselin 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 Gosselin

The surname GOSSELIN originated in France, with the earliest records dating back to the 11th century. It is derived from the Old French word "gosselin," which means "young man" or "youth." This term likely evolved from the Latin word "gossipinus," meaning "godchild" or "godson."

The name GOSSELIN was initially concentrated in the northern regions of France, particularly in Normandy and Brittany. It is believed that the name was first adopted by families in these areas, possibly as a nickname or a way to distinguish individuals within a community.

One of the earliest known references to the name GOSSELIN can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and property holdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a certain "Goscelinus" as a landowner in Lincolnshire, indicating that the name had already spread to England by the late 11th century.

In the 12th century, a notable figure named Gosselin de Vire (c. 1120-1188) was a French trouvère, or poet-composer, known for his contributions to the development of courtly love poetry. He is considered one of the earliest known composers of secular music in the French language.

Another prominent individual with the surname GOSSELIN was Jean Gosselin (c. 1505-1584), a French historian and clergyman who served as the abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille in Normandy. He is best known for his historical writings, including a chronicle of the Norman dukes and a history of the abbey he presided over.

During the 16th century, a French explorer named Jacques Gosselin (c. 1540-1610) is recorded as having participated in several expeditions to the Americas, including the ill-fated attempt to establish a colony in what is now South Carolina in 1562.

In the 18th century, Pierre-Frédéric Gosselin (1751-1830) was a French geographer and historian who authored several influential works on ancient geography and the history of Greece and Rome.

The name GOSSELIN also has ties to various place names in France, such as Gosselin-Ville, a commune in the Manche department of Normandy, and Gosselies, a municipality in the Belgian province of Hainaut, which was historically part of the County of Hainaut under French rule.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gosselin

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

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

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

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