Explore the Family Name Gudgeon

The meaning of Gudgeon

English: nickname from the Middle English fish name gojon, gogen, Old French gougon (from Latin gobio, genitive gobionis) ‘gudgeon’. The gudgeon is a species of small freshwater fish which has a large head and is easily caught. The vocabulary word gudgeon is recorded with the sense ‘gullible person’ from 1584.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Gudgeon saw a remarkable increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked at 63,450, but by 2010, it had leapt to 55,255, marking a change of 12.92%. The count of people with this surname also grew from 294 in 2000 to 372 in 2010, an increase of 26.53%. Consequently, the proportion of individuals bearing the Gudgeon surname per 100,000 people also climbed up from 0.11 to 0.13.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#63,450	#55,255	12.92%
Count	294	372	26.53%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.13	18.18%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gudgeon

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Gudgeon has also witnessed some shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. Individuals identifying as White made up the majority of those with the surname, although their percentage slightly fell from 96.94% in 2000 to 95.16% in 2010. Interestingly, the distribution in 2010 also included individuals who identify as Hispanic (2.15%) and those who report belonging to two or more races (1.34%). Conversely, there were no significant changes recorded among individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.94%	95.16%	-1.84%
Hispanic	0%	2.15%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	1.34%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%