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

Goth, 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 Goth surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goth in America

Goth is the 33645th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goth surname appeared 677 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 Goth.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goth 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 Goth

The surname Goth has its origins in the Germanic tribes known as the Goths, who were among the first to embrace Christianity and played a significant role in shaping the history of Europe. The name likely originated from the Gothic language, in which it meant "one from Goth-land" or "one from the land of the Goths."

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Goth can be traced back to the 9th century, where it appeared in various documents and manuscripts from the region of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands. One notable example is found in the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript from the Benedictine monastery of St. Emmeram in Regensburg, Germany.

During the Middle Ages, the name Goth was associated with several notable figures. One of the earliest was Jordanes, a 6th-century Roman bureaucrat and historian who wrote the seminal work "De Origine Actibusque Getarum" (The Origin and Deeds of the Goths). Another prominent figure was Theodoric the Great (454-526 AD), the king of the Ostrogoths who ruled the Italian Peninsula and established a prosperous kingdom in the aftermath of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

As the centuries passed, the name Goth continued to be found in various records and documents across Europe. In England, the Domesday Book of 1086 lists several individuals with the surname Goth, indicating the name's presence in the region during the Norman conquest. One notable English bearer of the name was Sir Matthew Goth (c. 1320-1380), a prominent soldier and diplomat who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War.

In the Netherlands, the name Goth has been associated with several notable individuals, including the painter Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617), whose surname is believed to be derived from the same root as Goth. Another prominent Dutch figure was Pieter Codde (c. 1599-1678), a Catholic priest and a leading figure in the Jansenist controversy within the Catholic Church.

The surname Goth has also been found in other parts of Europe, including Germany, where it was borne by the philosopher and theologian Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), one of the most influential figures of the German Enlightenment and the author of works such as "Faust" and "The Sorrows of Young Werther."

While the surname Goth has its roots in the ancient Germanic tribes, it has spread across Europe and continues to be found in various countries today, reflecting the rich cultural heritage and historical significance of this enduring name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goth

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

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

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

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