How common is the surname Gamble?

34,005 people in the United States had the surname Gamble in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,079 Americans. It ranked 1,024th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Gamble?

Nathan Gamble, American actor (born 1998), followed by Mason Gamble.

Where is the surname Gamble most common?

Wikidata records people named Gamble in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Gamble getting more or less common?

More common. 32,377 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 34,005 in 2010, up 5.0%.

The surname Gamble

A Norse surname, carried by 34,005 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex G514

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Gamble is more common than 99.4% of them.

Origin

Norse origin

From the Old Norse byname gamall (“old”), which was occasionally used in North England during the Middle Ages as a personal name.

One of 126 Norse surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 34,005 people named Gamble in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,079 Americans. That is up 5.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 32,377.

#1,024

rank among US surnames

34,005

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+5%

change since 2000 (was #981)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,015	Saldana	34,434	8,966
#1,016	Mercer	34,431	8,967
#1,017	Hatfield	34,381	8,980
#1,018	McNeil	34,368	8,984
#1,019	Irwin	34,297	9,002
#1,020	Hooper	34,247	9,015
#1,021	Hays	34,191	9,030

Who is named Gamble

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

57% of people named Gamble identified as white (not Hispanic), 37% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 57%
Black (not Hispanic) 37%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 2.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Gambles

15 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Nathan Gamble
American actor (born 1998)
Mason Gamble
American former exactor and current marine biologist, born 1986
James Sykes Gamble
British botanist (1847-1925)
Fred Gamble
American racing driver (1932–2024)
James Gamble
British co-founder of Procter & Gamble, 1803–1891
Robert J. Gamble
American politician (1851-1924)
Sera Gamble
American television producer and writer, born 1983
Fred Gamble
Actor (1868-1939)
Julian Gamble
American basketball player (born 1989)
Eliza Gamble
American writer, 1841–1920
Hamilton Rowan Gamble
American jurist and politician (1798–1864)
Kevin Gamble
American basketball player-coach, born 1965

Notable Gambles come mostly from the United States (13), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Gammell
Gemmell

Surnames that sound like Gamble

Gamble has the Soundex code G514, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code G514.

Other Norse surnames

All 126 Norse surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Gamble come from?: From the Old Norse byname gamall (“old”), which was occasionally used in North England during the Middle Ages as a personal name.
How common is the surname Gamble?: 34,005 people in the United States had the surname Gamble in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,079 Americans. It ranked 1,024th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Gamble?: In the 2010 Census, 57% of people named Gamble identified as white (not Hispanic), and 37% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Gamble?: Nathan Gamble, American actor (born 1998), followed by Mason Gamble.
Where is the surname Gamble most common?: Wikidata records people named Gamble in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Gamble getting more or less common?: More common. 32,377 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 34,005 in 2010, up 5.0%.
What are other spellings of Gamble?: Gammell and Gemmell.