# Colgate (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/colgate/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 637 |
| US rank (2010) | 35,345 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 484,687 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.4% (616 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

The toothpaste brand was named after the company founder, William Colgate. The surname derives from the place name, which is probably from Old English col (“coal”) and ġeat (“gate”). The Philippine sense is a genericized trademark from the toothpaste brand, Colgate. Compare Cebuano kulgit.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Colgate in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 93% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.1% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Colgate in the United States.

## People named Colgate

- Gilbert Colgate, American bobsledder (1899-1965)

## Similar surnames

Claxton, Calzada, Celestine, Calixto, Colston, Celestin, Colquitt, Chilcote, Calixte, Celestino, Celeste, Claggett.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.