Explore the Family Name Gopalan

The meaning of Gopalan

Indian (southern states): from a personal name derived from the name Gopāla (see Gopal) + the Tamil-Malayalam third-person masculine singular suffix -n. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames, this name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Gopalan saw a significant rise between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 56,826 in terms of prevalence, but by 2010, it rose to position 34,618, marking an increase of 39.08%. The count of individuals with this surname nearly doubled from 336 to 653 during the same period, indicating a growth rate of 94.35%. Furthermore, the proportion of individuals named Gopalan per 100,000 people in the US increased from 0.12 to 0.22, showing an upward trend of 83.33%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#56,826	#34,618	39.08%
Count	336	653	94.35%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.22	83.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gopalan

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of individuals with the surname Gopalan identified as Asian/Pacific Islander in both 2000 and 2010. This group increased from 93.45% to 96.02% over the decade, demonstrating a growth of 2.75%. Meanwhile, those identifying with two or more races decreased from 2.68% to 1.38%, marking a drop of 48.51%. The percentage of white individuals also declined from 2.98% to 1.84%, a reduction of 38.26%. The proportions of Hispanic, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals remained at zero throughout this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	93.45%	96.02%	2.75%
White	2.98%	1.84%	-38.26%
Two or More Races	2.68%	1.38%	-48.51%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%