Explore the Family Name Colgate
The meaning of Colgate
English (Kent): habitational name from Colgates in Kent, named with Old English col ‘charcoal’ + geat ‘gate’, indicating a gate leading into woodland where charcoal was burned. History: In 1798, one Robert Colgate left Shoreham for Baltimore in MD, and in 1806 his son William founded the Colgate toothpaste company in New York.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Colgate in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Colgate" has slightly decreased from 2000 to 2010. The ranking of the name dropped by 1.83 percent, moving from 34,711 to 35,345 in this ten-year period. However, the actual count of people with this surname experienced a small increase of 3.41 percent, rising from 616 to 637 individuals. Despite the slight growth in numbers, the proportion of people named Colgate per 100,000 went down by 4.35 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #34,711 | #35,345 | -1.83% |
| Count | 616 | 637 | 3.41% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.23 | 0.22 | -4.35% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Colgate
The ethnicity distribution for those with the surname "Colgate" also showed some changes between 2000 and 2010 according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The number of Asians/Pacific Islanders with this name dropped to zero, while the count of those identifying as two or more races decreased by 27.69 percent. The majority of people with the surname were identified as White, making up 92.78 percent in 2010, marking a minor decrease of 0.78 percent since 2000. In contrast, there was a significant increase of 32.47 percent in those who identified as Hispanic within this same time frame. The population of Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native remained at zero with the latter showing a new appearance in the 2010 census.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 93.51% | 92.78% | -0.78% |
| Hispanic | 3.08% | 4.08% | 32.47% |
| Two or More Races | 1.95% | 1.41% | -27.69% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0.78% | 0% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.81% | 0% | 0% |
| Black | 0% | 0% | 0% |