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

Gotham, 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 Gotham surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gotham in America

Gotham is the 28856th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gotham surname appeared 824 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 Gotham.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gotham 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 Gotham

The surname Gotham has its origins in England and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old English words "gat" meaning "goat" and "ham" meaning "homestead" or "village." The name likely refers to a place where goats were raised or a settlement located near goat farms.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Gateham" and "Gatham." These entries refer to places in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, respectively. The name was also spelled as "Gotham" in medieval records, indicating its evolution into the modern form.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Gotham was William de Gotham, a landowner in Derbyshire mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of 1166. Another notable figure was Sir John de Gotham, a knight who fought in the Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years' War in 1356.

In the 15th century, the name gained literary significance through the folk tales of the "Wise Men of Gotham." These stories depicted the villagers of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, as foolish and eccentric, leading to the association of the name with madness or folly. This connection later influenced the naming of the fictional city of Gotham in the Batman comics and other popular culture references.

Among the more prominent individuals with the surname Gotham in history are:

1. Matthew Gotham (c. 1560-1628), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
2. Richard Gotham (1598-1669), an English politician who sat in the House of Commons during the English Civil War.
3. John Gotham (1670-1743), a British naval officer who served as a captain in the Royal Navy during the early 18th century.
4. Elizabeth Gotham (1725-1804), an English writer and poet known for her work "The Poetical Blossoms of Elizabeth Gotham."
5. Thomas Gotham (1835-1912), an American businessman and philanthropist who established the Gotham Trust, a charitable foundation in New York City.

The surname Gotham has a rich history spanning several centuries, with its origins rooted in English place names and evolving to include literary and cultural references over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gotham

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

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

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

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