Explore the Family Name Gotham

The meaning of Gotham

English (Staffordshire): habitational name from any of the places so called in Nottinghamshire, Sussex, or Devon, named from Old English gāt ‘goat’ + hām ‘homestead’ or hamm ‘water meadow’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Gotham has seen a rise in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 30,120 in terms of prevalence but rose to rank 28,856 in 2010, marking a 4.2% increase. The count of individuals bearing this surname also grew from 734 in 2000 to 824 in 2010, a notable increase of 12.26%. The proportion per 100,000 people increased slightly from 0.27 to 0.28, reflecting a 3.7% change.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#30,120	#28,856	4.2%
Count	734	824	12.26%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.28	3.7%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gotham

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that Gotham is predominantly associated with individuals of White ethnic identity, although this proportion decreased by 2.54% from 97.00% in 2000 to 94.54% in 2010. There were significant increases in the number of individuals with Asian/Pacific Islander and Two or more races identities who carry the Gotham surname. The proportion of Gotham bearers identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander rose from 0.82% to 1.46%, marking a 78.05% change, while those identifying with two or more races increased from 1.09% to 1.82%, a 66.97% change. The surname also appeared among individuals of Hispanic and Black ethnic identities in 2010, which was not the case in 2000. No changes were observed for those with American Indian and Alaskan Native identity.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97%	94.54%	-2.54%
Two or More Races	1.09%	1.82%	66.97%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.82%	1.46%	78.05%
Hispanic	0%	1.33%	0%
Black	0%	0.85%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%