Explore the Family Name Gapen

The meaning of Gapen

Altered form of French Guespin: nickname derived from Old French guespe ‘wasp’, referring to some characteristic of this insect. Some characteristic forenames: French Patrice.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Gapen in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Gapen has shown a minor shift in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname Gapen was ranked 72,717th most common in the United States, with a count of approximately 249 individuals carrying this last name. By 2010, the rank slipped to 75,069th position, indicating a decrease in popularity by about 3.23%. However, interestingly, the actual count of people with the surname Gapen slightly increased by 3.21% to 257 during this decade, keeping the proportion per 100,000 population constant at 0.09.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#72,717	#75,069	-3.23%
Count	249	257	3.21%
Proportion per 100k	0.09	0.09	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gapen

When it comes to the ethnic identity associated with the surname Gapen, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that it is predominantly linked with White ethnicity. In 2000, around 95.98% of individuals with the surname Gapen identified as White, which declined marginally to 94.94% by 2010. Over the same period, there seems to be an increase in the proportion of those identifying as Hispanic, from 2.01% to 2.33%, indicating a growth of approximately 15.92%. The census data did not record any individuals with the Gapen surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.98%	94.94%	-1.08%
Hispanic	2.01%	2.33%	15.92%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%