Explore the Family Name Gockley

The meaning of Gockley

Americanized form of German Gockler or Swiss German Göckler, probably a nickname or an occupational name for a clown or entertainer, from an agent derivative of Middle High German gogelen ‘to clown’. Compare Gockel 2.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Gockley has seen a slight increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 45,308 in terms of popularity but climbed to 44,034 by 2010, a rise of approximately 2.81%. The count of individuals with this surname also rose during this period from 445 to 489, marking an increment of nearly 9.89%. The proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 also experienced growth, increasing by 6.25%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#45,308	#44,034	2.81%
Count	445	489	9.89%
Proportion per 100k	0.16	0.17	6.25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gockley

With regard to ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of individuals with the surname Gockley identify as White. This demographic made up 95.73% of the Gockley population in 2000 and slightly decreased to 93.46% by 2010. During the same timeframe, there was a significant rise in those identifying as Hispanic, with an increase from 1.12% to 2.04%. Interestingly, 2010 saw individuals identifying as belonging to two or more races, something not recorded in 2000. Conversely, there was a minor decrease in those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native from 2.02% to 1.84%. There were no recorded instances of individuals with the Gockley surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or Black in either 2000 or 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.73%	93.46%	-2.37%
Hispanic	1.12%	2.04%	82.14%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	2.02%	1.84%	-8.91%
Two or More Races	0%	1.64%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%