2000
#5,810
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,451
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.02
Rare Last name
Goulet
A French toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "small stream" or "throat."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,208 Americans carry the last name Goulet. That puts it at #6,089 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 55,212 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Goulet surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
6.2K
1 in 55,212
Census rank
#6,089
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,414 bearers of the surname Goulet in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6089th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Goulet, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Goulet
Among Census respondents with the surname Goulet, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Goulet bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Goulet surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.7% · 4,857
- Two or more races4.2% · 228
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 184
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 36
- Black or African American0.4% · 23
Timeline
Historical Census data for Goulet
Goulet appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#6,084
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,637
+186 bearers (+3.4%)
Per 100,000 1.91
Rank movement Down 274 places
2020
#6,089
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,414
-223 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 1.81
Rank movement Down 5 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,810 | 5,451 | 2.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,084 | 5,637 | 1.91 | +186 bearers (+3.4%) | Down 274 places |
| 2020 | #6,089 | 5,414 | 1.81 | -223 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 5 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Goulet surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #6,084 | #6,089 | -0.1% |
| Count | 5,637 | 5,414 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.91 | 1.81 | -5.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Goulet bearers went from 5,637 to 5,414 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 5 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,084 to #6,089.
FAQ
Goulet surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Goulet?
Name Census estimates that about 6,208 living Americans carry the surname Goulet. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 55,212 residents.
How common is Goulet?
Goulet ranks #6,089 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.81 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,414 people with the surname Goulet. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,208), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.81 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Goulet.
Has Goulet become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Goulet went from 5,637 recorded bearers to 5,414. That is a decrease of 223 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,084 to #6,089.
What does the Census say about the background of Goulet?
Among Census respondents with the surname Goulet, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (3.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Goulet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (4,857 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Goulet appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.7%), Two or More Races (4.2%), Hispanic (3.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Goulet (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Goulet mean?
A French toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "small stream" or "throat." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Goulet (1.81 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Goulet?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.