How common is the surname Gould?

38,924 people in the United States had the surname Gould in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,932 Americans. It ranked 891st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Gould?

Stephen Jay Gould, American biologist and historian of science (1941–2002), followed by Elliott Gould.

Where is the surname Gould most common?

Wikidata records people named Gould in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and 1 other country.

Is the surname Gould getting more or less common?

More common. 37,660 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 38,924 in 2010, up 3.4%.

The surname Gould

A surname, carried by 38,924 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex G430

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Gould is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

Variant of Gold.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 38,924 people named Gould in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 7,932 Americans. That is up 3.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 37,660.

#891

rank among US surnames

38,924

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.4%

change since 2000 (was #836)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#882	Shepard	39,430	7,830
#883	McMahon	39,411	7,834
#884	Landry	39,391	7,838
#885	Case	39,319	7,852
#886	Sampson	39,277	7,861
#887	Moses	39,216	7,873
#888	Magana	39,105	7,895

Who is named Gould

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

87% of people named Gould identified as white (not Hispanic), 7.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 87%
Black (not Hispanic) 7.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Goulds

31 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Stephen Jay Gould
American biologist and historian of science (1941–2002)
Elliott Gould
American actor (born 1938)
Nolan Gould
American actor, born 1998
Dana Gould
American stand-up comedian, born 1964
Alexander Gould
American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and screenwriter, born 1994
Gordon Gould
American physicist and inventor (1920–2005)
Shane Gould
Australian swimmer, born 1956
Jay Gould
American railroad magnate and financier (1836-1892)
Benjamin Apthorp Gould
American astronomer (1824–1896)
Harold Gould
American actor (1923-2010)
Jason Gould
American actor, filmmaker and singer, born 1966
Morton Gould
American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist (1913–1996)

Notable Goulds come mostly from the United States (28), Australia (1) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Gould

Gould has the Soundex code G430, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code G430.

Questions

Where does the surname Gould come from?: Variant of Gold.
How common is the surname Gould?: 38,924 people in the United States had the surname Gould in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,932 Americans. It ranked 891st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Gould?: In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Gould identified as white (not Hispanic), and 7.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Gould?: Stephen Jay Gould, American biologist and historian of science (1941–2002), followed by Elliott Gould.
Where is the surname Gould most common?: Wikidata records people named Gould in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and 1 other country.
Is the surname Gould getting more or less common?: More common. 37,660 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 38,924 in 2010, up 3.4%.