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

Gossman, 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 Gossman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gossman in America

Gossman is the 13926th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gossman surname appeared 2,168 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 Gossman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gossman 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 Gossman

The surname Gossman is of Germanic origin, with its roots traced back to regions of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands. It likely emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. The name is believed to be derived from the Old German word "gos," meaning a landowner or farmer, combined with the suffix "-man," indicating a person or occupation.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Gossman surname can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the 13th century. It mentions a "Johannes Gossman" from the town of Landau in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. In the 15th century, there are records of a "Hans Gossman" from the city of Aachen, near the border with the Netherlands.

The Gossman name is also linked to the historical region of Friesland, spanning parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In the 16th century, a notable figure named Ubbo Emmius Gossman (1547-1625) was a Frisian scholar and cartographer who produced one of the earliest detailed maps of the region.

In the 17th century, records show a "Pieter Gossman" from the Dutch city of Leiden, who was a prominent merchant and trader. During this period, variations of the spelling, such as "Gosmanns" and "Gossmans," were also documented in various church and municipal records across the Low Countries.

One of the most famous bearers of the Gossman surname was Johann Wilhelm Gossman (1677-1749), a German composer and organist from the town of Grauhof, near Dresden. He is renowned for his contributions to the development of the Baroque music style and his compositions for the organ.

Another notable figure was Gottfried Gossman (1836-1902), a German-American businessman and philanthropist from Saxony. He immigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century and became a successful businessman in the textile industry, later establishing the Gossman Foundation to support educational and cultural initiatives.

In the 20th century, Hans Gossman (1912-1997) was a German-American historian and academic who specialized in the study of French literature and culture. He taught at various prestigious institutions, including Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley.

While the Gossman surname has its roots in Germanic regions, it has since spread worldwide, with bearers of the name found in various countries due to migration and diaspora over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gossman

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

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

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

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