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

Gothard, 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 Gothard surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gothard in America

Gothard is the 15296th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gothard surname appeared 1,919 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 Gothard.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gothard 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 Gothard

The surname Gothard is of Germanic origin, originating from the personal name Gotthard, which is a compound of the Old German words "gott" meaning "god" and "hart" meaning "brave" or "hardy". This name was particularly common in areas of present-day Germany and Switzerland during the medieval period.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gothard can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Sancti Galli, a 9th-century manuscript from the Abbey of St. Gallen in Switzerland, where a man named Gotthard is mentioned as a landowner in the year 857.

In the 11th century, the name gained prominence with Saint Gotthard, also known as Gotthard of Hildesheim (960-1038), a Catholic bishop and patron saint of the Diocese of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. His life and miracles were recorded in the Vita Sancti Gothardi, a hagiography written shortly after his death.

The surname Gothard is also linked to several place names, such as Gotthard Pass, a mountain pass in the Swiss Alps, and the town of Sankt Gotthard in Austria. These place names likely derived from the personal name Gotthard and may have contributed to the spread of the surname.

Notable individuals with the surname Gothard throughout history include:

1. Hieronymus Gothard (1530-1592), a German composer and music theorist known for his works on counterpoint and harmony.

2. Johann Christian Gothard (1688-1772), a German architect who designed several churches and palaces in Dresden and Leipzig.

3. Jean-Baptiste Gothard (1733-1800), a French sculptor and engraver known for his portrait busts and medallions.

4. Johann Gothard von Müller (1756-1830), a Swiss historian and writer who served as the tutor to the children of Emperor Alexander I of Russia.

5. Gotthard Oswald Marbach (1810-1890), a German-American architect who designed several notable buildings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, including the Pabst Mansion and the Mackie Building.

While the surname Gothard is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of European surnames, carrying with it a historical significance rooted in the medieval period and the Germanic language.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gothard

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

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

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

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