Explore the Family Name Goethals

The meaning of Goethals

Flemish: nickname for a kindly person, from goed ‘good’ + hals ‘neck’, a cognate of Goodhart, presumably resulted from a folketymological reinterpretation of Goedale, a metonymic occupational name for a brewer, from goed ‘good’ + ale ‘ale’, a cognate of English Goodall. Some characteristic forenames: French Colette, Gaston, Ignace.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Goethals has seen a rise in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 50,572nd most popular surname, but by 2010 it had climbed to the 48,060th spot, marking a change of 4.97%. The count of individuals with this surname also increased during this decade, from 388 people in 2000 to 440 in 2010, an increase of 13.4%. The proportion of individuals with this surname per 100k also rose from 0.14 to 0.15.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#50,572	#48,060	4.97%
Count	388	440	13.4%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.15	7.14%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Goethals

The ethnicity associated with the surname Goethals also changed slightly between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, the majority of those with the surname identified as white (94.07%), followed by Hispanic (3.09%). By 2010, although the majority still identified as white (93.64%), the percentage of those identifying as Hispanic decreased to 2.95%. Interestingly, there were increases in other ethnicities over the decade, with the introduction of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Black, both accounting for 1.14% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.07%	93.64%	-0.46%
Hispanic	3.09%	2.95%	-4.53%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.14%	0%
Black	0%	1.14%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%