# Govan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/govan/  
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 | Irish |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,188 |
| US rank (2010) | 10,103 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 96,846 people |
| Change since 2000 | +12% (2,846 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Uncertain. Traditionally said to derive from Irish gobán (“gag, muzzle”), equivalent to gob (“beak”) + -án. Clancy (1997) and Forsyth (2002) preferred a Cumbric formation, equivalent to Welsh go- (“under”) + fan, the soft mutation of ban (“peak”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Govan 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) | 20% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 70% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 3.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 3.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Govan in the United States.

## People named Govan

- Gerald Govan, American basketball player

## Similar surnames

Givan, Giovanni, Gavin, Gaffney, Giffin, Given, Gibney, Gauvin, Gobin, Gibbon, Goffin.

## 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.