The Gandhi surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,721 people carried this name — #5,199 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 43,900 people counted. That is up 59% from 4,215 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Gandhi surname
A surname from India used by Hindu, Jain, Parsi and Sikh people throughout India.
Borrowed from Gujarati ગાંધી (gāndhī, “grocer, merchant”), from Sanskrit गन्ध (gandha, “perfume”). Originally, a trader in perfume.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Gandhi» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 35 people named Gandhi live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Antwerp.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
25 people named Gandhi live in Switzerland.
They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
108 people named Gandhi is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Gandhi in American newspapers,
1895–1924.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 251 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Gandhi in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1990s.
14,500 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Gandhi. The most, 4,646, date from the 1930s. The Australian Capital Territory has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 2.3 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Gandhi.
Who carried it
People named Gandhi,
with a public archive behind them.
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Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi 1822–1885 · politician -
Virchand Gandhi 1864–1901 · barrister -
Mahatma Gandhi 1869–1948 · writer -
Kasturba Gandhi 1869–1944 · politician -
Jamshedji Rustomji Gandhi 1877– -
Pravinchandra Varjivan Gandhi d. 2010 · banker
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Gandhi,
in the records of 2 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States3 records
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 2
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 1
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Example: U.S. burial record, 1864 Burial record Shaun R. GandhiU.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War. Born 1934, died 1998; buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s Alien registration Uttamla D. GandhiBorn 1922 in India. Entered the United States in 1953. Listed in the U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955.
U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) -
Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s Alien registration Jeyshankar A. GandhiBorn 1895 in India. Listed in the U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955.
U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)
Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
France1 record
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Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Tilak Raj GandhiBorn 1950 in India; died 1997 in Eaubonne (Val-d'Oise).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Gandhi.
- Gancarz 536 · U.S. census
- Gance 132 · U.S. census
- Ganci 727 · U.S. census
- Gandara 4,754 · U.S. census
- Gandel 111 · U.S. census
- Gander 1,804 · U.S. census
- Gandia 662 · U.S. census
- Gandini 104 · U.S. census
- Gandolfi 427 · U.S. census
- Gandolfo 1,278 · U.S. census
- Gandre 101 · U.S. census
- Gandy 10,444 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Gandhi is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.