Explore the Family Name Gorse

The meaning of Gorse

1. English (Lancashire): topographic name from Middle English gors(t) ‘furze, gorse’, for someone who lived ‘(at the) gorse’. 2. Slovenian (Gorše): from an old derivative of the personal name Gregor, Latin Gregorius.

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

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

The popularity of the surname Gorse has seen a decrease between 2000 and 2010, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Gorse was ranked as the 60,887th most popular surname in the United States with 309 individuals carrying this name, or about 0.11 per 100,000 people. However, by the year 2010, it had dropped to the 72,332nd rank with 269 individuals bearing the name, signifying a proportion of 0.09 per 100,000. This represents an overall change of -18.8% in rank and -12.94% in count over these ten years.

20002010Change
Rank#60,887#72,332-18.8%
Count309269-12.94%
Proportion per 100k0.110.09-18.18%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gorse

Regarding ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of people with the Gorse surname identify as White, with a slight increase from 94.17% in 2000 to 98.14% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander witnessed a significant drop from 1.94% in 2000 to 0% in 2010. Additionally, there were no people with the Gorse surname who identified as Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either 2000 or 2010. Furthermore, there was no change in the percentage of people identifying with two or more races over this timeframe.

20002010Change
White94.17%98.14%4.22%
Asian/Pacific Islander1.94%0%-100%
Two or More Races0%0%0%
Hispanic0%0%0%
Black1.62%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%