Explore the Family Name Golightly

The meaning of Golightly

1. English (Durham): nickname, perhaps for a messenger, from Middle English gō(n) ‘to go’ (Old English gān) + lihtly ‘lightly, swiftly’ (Old English lēoht(līc)). 2. Scottish and English: altered form of Scottish Galletly, a variant of Irish Mac an Ghallóglaigh, see Gallogly.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Golightly ranked 13,359th in popularity in 2000 and dropped slightly to rank 13,911th in 2010, marking a 4.13% decrease in popularity. Despite this drop in ranking, the actual count of people with this surname increased by 3.78%, from 2,092 in 2000 to 2,171 in 2010. The proportion of people named Golightly per 100k individuals also decreased by 5.13% over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#13,359	#13,911	-4.13%
Count	2,092	2,171	3.78%
Proportion per 100k	0.78	0.74	-5.13%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Golightly

Regarding ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows interesting shifts between 2000 and 2010. The largest percentage growth was seen among individuals of Asian/Pacific Islander descent, which nearly tripled from 0.33% to 0.64%. Another significant increase was noted in the Hispanic population, where the prevalence of the surname Golightly grew by 74.32%. Meanwhile, the White population had the highest overall percentage but experienced a slight decline of 3.74% over the decade. The Black community saw a modest increase of 5.38%, while the proportion of people identifying as two or more races grew by 52.52%. The American Indian and Alaskan Native population showing Golightly as their surname rose by 30.83%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	83.89%	80.75%	-3.74%
Black	11.71%	12.34%	5.38%
Hispanic	1.48%	2.58%	74.32%
Two or More Races	1.39%	2.12%	52.52%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.2%	1.57%	30.83%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.33%	0.64%	93.94%