Explore the Family Name Goodfellow
The meaning of Goodfellow
English: nickname for a congenial companion, from Middle English gode ‘good’ + felawe ‘fellow’, although the word was sometimes to mean ‘rascal’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Goodfellow in the United States?
The surname Goodfellow demonstrated a slight drop in popularity between the years 2000 and 2010 according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Goodfellow ranked 11,745th in prevalence among U.S. surnames but dipped to 12,667th by 2010, a decrease of about 7.85%. Despite the lower ranking, the actual count of individuals with the Goodfellow surname remained relatively steady at around 2,440, marking only a minor reduction of 0.12% over the decade.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #11,745 | #12,667 | -7.85% |
| Count | 2,443 | 2,440 | -0.12% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.91 | 0.83 | -8.79% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Goodfellow
In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census presented interesting shifts for the Goodfellow surname from 2000 to 2010. The largest increase was observed in those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander which jumped by 110.34%, although they still represent a small portion of those with the surname. There was also a significant growth among those who identify as Black or with two or more races, with increases of 80% and 28.70% respectively. On the other hand, those identifying as White decreased slightly by 1.45%, but they still form the majority of the population with the Goodfellow surname. There was no change in the proportion of those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native over the decade, while the Hispanic category increased by 43.09%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 96.4% | 95% | -1.45% |
| Hispanic | 1.23% | 1.76% | 43.09% |
| Two or More Races | 1.15% | 1.48% | 28.7% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.29% | 0.61% | 110.34% |
| Black | 0.25% | 0.45% | 80% |
Goodfellow ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Goodfellow is British & Irish, which comprises 61.7% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (21.2%) and Italian (4.1%). Additional ancestries include Scandinavian, Eastern European, Spanish & Portuguese, Greek & Balkan, and Finnish.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| British & Irish | 61.7% |
| French & German | 21.2% |
| Italian | 4.1% |
| Other | 12.9% |
Possible origins of the surname Goodfellow
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Goodfellow have recent ancestry locations all within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Glasgow City, United Kingdom | 89.70% |
| Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom | 89.70% |
| Merseyside, United Kingdom | 89.70% |
| West Yorkshire, United Kingdom | 89.70% |
| County Durham, United Kingdom | 89.70% |
What Goodfellow haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Goodfellow is O-F2415, which is predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Haplogroup O-F2415 is descended from haplogroup O-M1359. Other common haplogroups include E-M183 and O-F2859, which are predominantly found among people with European and East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Goodfellow surname are: H1, N, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins O-M1359
Your paternal lineage may be linked to the Cham
One of the many populations harboring members of haplogroup O1b1a1a1a1 is the Cham ethnic group, a group of people who speak Austronesian languages in Mainland Southeast Asia. Austronesian languages make up a language family that is extremely large and widespread, comprising over 350 million people on islands such as Madagascar, Easter Island, and many others. However, Austronesian languages are less common on mainland Asia, with a notable exception being the Chamic language. Research suggests that ancestors of the Cham people migrated from Southeast Asian islands to the mainland around the year 500 BCE, and that early Cham populations quickly began mixing with indigenous southern Vietnamese populations. As a result, the Chamic language now has words that were borrowed from languages spoken by indigenous Vietnamese people. It is likely that an ancestral Kinh population was one of the populations that mixed with the Cham people shortly after their migration to mainland Asia.
Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette
Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.
What do people with the surname Goodfellow have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"Goodfellow" Surname 42.9%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Cheek Dimples
Small indentations that appear on the cheeks when a person smiles.
"Goodfellow" Surname 41.7%
23andMe Users 37.6%
Habits
Sugary Drink
Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.
"Goodfellow" Surname 28.6%
23andMe Users 21.1%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"Goodfellow" Surname 15.3%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name Goodfellow?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Goodfellow are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition