How common is the surname Galbraith?

8,886 people in the United States had the surname Galbraith in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 34,745 Americans. It ranked 3,997th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Galbraith?

Barry Galbraith, American guitarist (1919–1983), followed by James K. Galbraith.

Where is the surname Galbraith most common?

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

Is the surname Galbraith getting more or less common?

More common. 8,555 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,886 in 2010, up 3.9%.

The surname Galbraith

A Scottish Gaelic surname, carried by 8,886 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex G416

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Galbraith is more common than 97.5% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

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

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,886 people named Galbraith in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 34,745 Americans. That is up 3.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 8,555.

#3,997

rank among US surnames

8,886

people in 2010

3.0

per 100,000 Americans

+3.9%

change since 2000 (was #3,808)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,988	Chew	8,905	34,671
#3,989	Haase	8,904	34,675
#3,991	Outlaw	8,901	34,687
#3,992	Sabo	8,899	34,694
#3,993	Deng	8,898	34,698
#3,994	Teixeira	8,895	34,710
#3,995	Lapointe	8,894	34,714

Who is named Galbraith

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

93% of people named Galbraith identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 1.9% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 93%
Black (not Hispanic) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Galbraiths

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Barry Galbraith
American guitarist (1919–1983)
James K. Galbraith
American economist, born 1952
Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde
British Conservative Party politician (born 1960)
Peter W. Galbraith
American politician, born 1950
Jo-Ann Galbraith
Australian archer, born 1985

Notable Galbraiths come mostly from the United States (3), the United Kingdom (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Colbath
Culbreath

Surnames that sound like Galbraith

Galbraith has the Soundex code G416, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code G416.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Galbraith come from?: Scottish ethnic surname from Scottish Gaelic gall (“stranger, foreigner”) + Breathnach (“Briton”).
How common is the surname Galbraith?: 8,886 people in the United States had the surname Galbraith in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 34,745 Americans. It ranked 3,997th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Galbraith?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Galbraith identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Galbraith?: Barry Galbraith, American guitarist (1919–1983), followed by James K. Galbraith.
Where is the surname Galbraith most common?: Wikidata records people named Galbraith in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Is the surname Galbraith getting more or less common?: More common. 8,555 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,886 in 2010, up 3.9%.
What are other spellings of Galbraith?: Colbath and Culbreath.