# Gooding (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/gooding/  
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 | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,123 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,942 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 43,345 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.8% (6,795 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Godding, Goding, Goodinge, Goodings |

## Etymology

From the Old English hypocorism Gōding, from gōd (“god”) + -ing (“diminutive suffix”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Gooding 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) | 70% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 23% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Gooding in the United States.

## People named Gooding

- Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor
- Omar Gooding, American actor (born 1976)
- Mason Gooding, American actor
- Celia Rose Gooding, American actor and singer
- Cuba Gooding Sr., American singer and actor (1944–2017)
- Frank R. Gooding, American politician (1859-1928)

## Similar surnames

Godinez, Goodnight, Goodenough, Godines, Giddens, Giddings, Gittens, Gettinger, Gettings, Gittings.

## 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.