Explore the Family Name St. Gelais

The meaning of St. Gelais

French Canadian: habitational name from Saint-Gelais, a place in Deux-Sèvres, France. This was originally a soldier’s name. History: It was Jean-Simon Pradet dit St. Gelais and Laforge, a soldier from Poitou, France, who brought the secondary surname or dit (‘also called’) name St. Gelais to Canada in the 1720s. His sons who remained in QC adopted it as their surname, while the youngest son who settled in Detroit, MI, adopted father’s second dit name Laforge as a surname. Some characteristic forenames: French Andre, Armand, Cecile, Constant, Gilles, Herve, Laurent, Marcel, Normand.

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

How common is the last name St. Gelais in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname St. Gelais has seen a slight increase in popularity in the United States between the years 2000 and 2010. The rank of this surname improved from 55,237 in 2000 to 54,418 in 2010, representing a 1.48 percent change. In terms of count, there was an 8.91 percent increase, with the number of individuals with the St. Gelais surname rising from 348 to 379. However, the proportion per 100,000 people remained consistent at 0.13.

20002010Change
Rank#55,237#54,4181.48%
Count3483798.91%
Proportion per 100k0.130.130%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name St. Gelais

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some shifts for the St. Gelais surname between 2000 and 2010. The majority identifying as white marginally declined by 2.43 percent, falling from 96.55 percent to 94.20 percent. Those identifying as two or more races saw a substantial increase of 99.42 percent, moving from 1.72 percent to 3.43 percent. There was also a new emergence of those identifying as Hispanic, which was not recorded in 2000 but accounted for 1.58 percent in 2010. No changes were observed in the categories of Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native, all remaining at zero.

20002010Change
White96.55%94.2%-2.43%
Two or More Races1.72%3.43%99.42%
Hispanic0%1.58%0%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0%0%
Black0%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%