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

Goulet, 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 Goulet surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goulet in America

Goulet is the 6084th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goulet surname appeared 5,637 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Goulet.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goulet 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 Goulet

The surname Goulet originated in France, appearing as early as the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French word "goulet," meaning "little throat" or "narrow passage." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a narrow valley or pass between hills or mountains.

Goulet is a topographic name, meaning it arose from a geographic feature associated with the original bearer's place of residence. Similar spellings include Goulay, Goulette, and Gouillette. The name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Normandy, Brittany, and Anjou in northern France.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Cartulary of Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou, dated 1174, where a certain Gaufridus Goulet is mentioned. The name also appears in the Testa de Nevill, a 13th-century survey of landholdings in England, indicating that Goulets had already made their way across the English Channel by that time.

In the 14th century, a French knight named Jean Goulet fought alongside Joan of Arc during the Siege of Orléans in 1429. He later testified at her trial and rehabilitation proceedings, providing valuable eyewitness accounts of her military campaigns.

Another notable Goulet was François Goulet (1647-1728), a French-Canadian pioneer and one of the earliest settlers in what is now Quebec City. He arrived in New France in 1666 and was among the first habitants (farmers) to establish themselves along the St. Lawrence River.

In the 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Goulet (1817-1899) was a prominent Canadian businessman and shipbuilder from Quebec. He founded the Goulet Shipyard, which produced numerous vessels for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence trade routes.

Victor Goulet (1887-1962) was a French journalist and writer who served as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper L'Humanité, the voice of the French Communist Party, from 1923 to 1958. He played a significant role in the French Resistance during World War II.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goulet

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

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

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

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