# Galbraith (surname)

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

A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,886 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,997 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 34,745 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.9% (8,555 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Colbath, Culbreath |

## Etymology

Scottish ethnic surname from Scottish Gaelic gall (“stranger, foreigner”) + Breathnach (“Briton”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Galbraith 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% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Galbraith in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

## People named Galbraith

- Barry Galbraith, American guitarist (1919–1983)
- James K. Galbraith, American economist
- Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, British Conservative Party politician (born 1960)
- Peter W. Galbraith, American politician
- Jo-Ann Galbraith, Australian archer

## Similar surnames

Galbreath, Gilbreath, Gilbert, Glover, Gilbertson, Guilford, Gilford, Gilbride, Gulliver, Gulliford.

## 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.