# Gordon (surname)

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

A Scottish habitational surname, derived from Gordon, Berwickshire.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 161,833 |
| US rank (2010) | 161 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,908 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.5% (154,934 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡɔrdn̩/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Gurden, Gorden |

## Etymology

The Scottish surname derives from Gordon in Berwickshire. This likely derives from Old English gor (“mud”) + dūn (“hill”), although a Brittonic etymology, from *gor (“great”) + *dīn (“fort”), has also been proposed.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Gordon 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) | 64% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 29% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Gordon in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain and Barbados.

## People named Gordon

- Jeff Gordon, American racing driver
- Ruth Gordon, American actress and writer (1896–1985)
- Charles George Gordon, British army officer and administrator
- Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophonist (1923–1990)
- Richard F. Gordon, American astronaut (1929–2017)
- Kim Gordon, American musician and artist, most known as co-founding member of Sonic Youth (born 1953)
- Aaron Gordon, American basketball player (born. 1995)
- Eric Gordon, American basketball player
- Noah Gordon, American writer (1926–2021)
- Zachary Gordon, American actor (born 1998)
- Ben Gordon, British-American basketball player
- Mark Gordon, American politician, Governor of Wyoming

and 93 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Gorton, Gorden, Gordan, Graydon, Gourdine, Giordano, Gardner, Gardiner, Garduno, Gartner, Giardina, Garton.

## 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.