Gouin last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Gouin

A French surname derived from a nickname meaning "sly" or "cunning."

Gouin, 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 Gouin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gouin in America

Gouin is the 19731st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gouin surname appeared 1,365 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 Gouin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gouin 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 19731 14737 28.98%
Count 1,365 1,848 -30.07%
Proportion per 100k 0.46 0.69 -40.00%

The history of the last name Gouin

The surname Gouin originated in France, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French word "gou," meaning "throat" or "gullet," and is believed to have been an occupational surname given to a person who made or sold throat lozenges.

The name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Normandy and Brittany, where it was often spelled as "Gouyn" or "Gouyn." In the 13th century, a record from the Duchy of Normandy mentions a "Willelmus Gouin" who owned land in the village of Saint-Pair-sur-Mer.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jean Gouin, a merchant from the city of Rouen who lived in the late 14th century. His name appears in several trade records from that time period.

In the 15th century, the Gouin family established itself in the town of Beauvais, where they were involved in the textile industry. Several members of the family are mentioned in local archives, including Pierre Gouin, a master weaver born in 1472.

During the 16th century, a branch of the Gouin family settled in the region of Burgundy. One notable member was François Gouin, a lawyer and magistrate who lived in Dijon from 1524 to 1592.

In the 17th century, the name spread to other parts of France, including the region of Poitou, where a family of Gouin landowners is recorded in the parish records of the town of Thouars.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Gouin, including:

  1. André Gouin (1616-1694), a French architect who designed the Château de Versailles and the Invalides in Paris.
  2. Marie-Anne Gouin (1753-1828), a French writer and feminist who campaigned for women's rights during the French Revolution.
  3. Eugène Gouin (1819-1892), a French industrialist and entrepreneur who founded the Gouin steel company in Nantes.
  4. Félix Gouin (1884-1977), a French politician and diplomat who served as Ambassador to the United States in the 1920s.
  5. Robert Gouin (1918-1997), a French artist and sculptor known for his abstract metal sculptures.

The surname Gouin continues to be found throughout France and other French-speaking regions, with various branches and spellings reflecting its long history and geographical spread.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gouin

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

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 Gouin was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 86.96% 1,187
Non-Hispanic Black Only 6.15% 84
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.47% 20
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.17% 16
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.25% 17
Hispanic Origin 3.00% 41

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 Gouin has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 86.96% 86.80% 0.18%
Black 6.15% 4.92% 22.22%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.47% 1.30% 12.27%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.17% 0.81% 36.36%
Two or More Races 1.25% 2.27% -57.95%
Hispanic 3.00% 3.90% -26.09%

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

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

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"Gouin last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/gouin-surname-popularity/.

"Gouin last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/gouin-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Gouin last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/gouin-surname-popularity/.

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