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    The surname Gordon

    A place surname, carried by 161,833 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈɡɔrdn̩/ 2 syllables Soundex G635 Also a first name

    Gordon: #161 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Gordon #161, 161,833 people Gordon: #161 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott Gordon #161, 161,833 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Gordon is more common than 99.9% of them.

    Origin

    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.

    Gordon is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 161,833 people named Gordon in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,908 Americans. That is up 4.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 154,934.

    #161
    rank among US surnames
    161,833
    people in 2010
    55
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4.5%
    change since 2000 (was #151)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #152Webb168,8781,828
    #153Tucker167,4461,844
    #154Guzman167,0441,848
    #155Burns165,9251,861
    #156Crawford164,4571,877
    #157Olson164,0351,882
    #158Simpson163,1811,892

    Who is named Gordon

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

    64% of people named Gordon identified as white (not Hispanic), 29% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 64%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 29%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.0%
    • Two or more races 2.3%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Gordons

    105 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Jeff Gordon
      American racing driver, born 1971
    • Ruth Gordon
      American actress and writer (1896–1985)
    • Charles George Gordon
      British army officer and administrator, 1833–1885
    • 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, born 1988
    • Noah Gordon
      American writer (1926–2021)
    • Zachary Gordon
      American actor (born 1998)
    • Ben Gordon
      British-American basketball player, born 1983
    • Mark Gordon
      American politician, Governor of Wyoming, born 1957

    Notable Gordons come mostly from the United States (87), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (5) and the United Kingdom (5).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    Surnames that sound like Gordon

    Gordon has the Soundex code G635, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code G635.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Gordon come from?
    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.
    How common is the surname Gordon?
    161,833 people in the United States had the surname Gordon in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,908 Americans. It ranked 161st of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Gordon?
    In the 2010 Census, 64% of people named Gordon identified as white (not Hispanic), and 29% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Gordon?
    Jeff Gordon, American racing driver, followed by Ruth Gordon.
    Where is the surname Gordon most common?
    Wikidata records people named Gordon in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.
    How do you pronounce Gordon?
    Gordon is /ˈɡɔrdn̩/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Gordon?
    Gordon is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
    Is the surname Gordon getting more or less common?
    More common. 154,934 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 161,833 in 2010, up 4.5%.
    What are other spellings of Gordon?
    Gurden and Gorden.
    Is Gordon also a first name?
    Yes. Gordon is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.