Explore the Family Name Gelles

The meaning of Gelles

1. German: metronymic from the German female personal name Gele, a short form of either Angela or Gertrude (see Trude). This surname is very rare in Germany. 2. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metronymic from the Yiddish female personal name Gele, borrowed from German Christians (see 1 above), + Yiddish possessive -s. Some characteristic forenames: German Heinz, Erna, Kurt.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Gelles has shown a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 43,157th most common surname, while in 2010, it dropped to the 48,256th position, representing an 11.82% decline. The number of individuals carrying the Gelles surname also decreased from 472 in 2000 to 438 in 2010, a drop of 7.2%. Concurrently, the proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 population fell by 11.76%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#43,157	#48,256	-11.82%
Count	472	438	-7.2%
Proportion per 100k	0.17	0.15	-11.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gelles

When it comes to ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census indicates some changes within those having the surname Gelles. The percentage of individuals identifying as White decreased slightly from 95.97% in 2000 to 93.38% in 2010. Interestingly, there was a notable increase within those identifying as Hispanic, going from 1.27% in 2000 to 5.25% in 2010, marking a 313.39% rise. There were no individuals identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, of two or more races, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year. The percentage of individuals identifying as Black went from 2.12% in 2000 to none in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.97%	93.38%	-2.7%
Hispanic	1.27%	5.25%	313.39%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	2.12%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%