# Goodenough (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,674 |
| US rank (2010) | 16,975 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 184,436 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.1% (1,656 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡʊd.(ə.)nʌf/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Goodnough, Goodenow, Goodnow, Goodno |

## Etymology

From Middle English, from gode (“good”) + ynogh (“enough”). Alternatively from gode (“good”) + knave (“boy, servant”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Goodenough 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) | 94% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Goodenough in the United States and England.

## People named Goodenough

- John B. Goodenough, American materials scientist (1922–2023)
- Ward Goodenough, American anthropologist (1919-2013)
- Florence Goodenough, American psychologist (1886–1959)
- Samuel Goodenough, British bishop (1743-1827)
- Ursula Wiltshire Goodenough, American biologist

## Similar surnames

Gooden, Goodin, Goodwyn, Gooding, Goodnight, Godinez, Giddens, Giddings, Gittens, Godines, Gettinger, Gettings.

## 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.