The Gould surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 38,924 people carried this name — #891 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 7,580 people counted. That is up 3% from 37,660 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Gould surname

Variant of Gold.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Gould» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Gold’.

An early record he cites: Adam Gold, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Gold and Gould.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 324 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 12 births for the Gould name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 500 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 2 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 8
Munster 4

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 202 people named Gould live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Santa Fe.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Santa Fe 110
Buenos Aires Province 73
City of Buenos Aires 19

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

28 people named Gould live in Switzerland.

They live in 3 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Vaud 15
Zurich 9
Zug 4

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 France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 24 people named Gould.

Most of them — 19 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 3 départements, most often Yvelines.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 19
Yvelines 3
Oise 1
Pyrénées-Atlantiques 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In the Nordic population registers

64 people named Gould are counted in Sweden and Finland.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 40
Finland (2026) 24

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) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Gould was found among the farmers of 8 counties.

It was most frequent in Dorset: 31 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 323. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Dorset 31
Staffordshire 30
Derbyshire 25
Gloucestershire 17
Somerset 17
Berkshire 10
Devon 10
Cheshire 9

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Gould was recorded 13 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1564th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 27. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

342 families named Gould, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,879 people lived in those households, 5.5 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 3 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 147
New Hampshire 51
Maine 34
Vermont 29
Connecticut 28
New York 21
Rhode Island 16
Pennsylvania 9
Maryland 6
North Carolina 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 242 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Gould in American newspapers,
1869–1905.

Newspaper page from The Charleston Daily News carrying the name Gould
The Charleston Daily News 1869-10-25
Newspaper page from The Muskogee Cimeter carrying the name Gould
The Muskogee Cimeter 1905-02-09
Newspaper page from Clearfield Republican carrying the name Gould
Clearfield Republican 1869-10-27

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 44,287 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Gould in Australian newspapers,
1830s–2010s.

116,741 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Gould. The most, 22,877, date from the 1890s. New South Wales 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 Tasmania, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 44,945
Queensland 18,387
Victoria 18,003
South Australia 16,832
Tasmania 11,111
Western Australia 6,867
ACT (Canberra) 386
Northern Territory 48

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Gould.

Who carried it

People named Gould,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Elizabeth Lincoln Gould
    Elizabeth Lincoln Gould d. 1914 · writer
  • Ben Gould d. 1998 · sports journalist
  • Charles Gould d. 1909 · barrister
  • Lyman J. Gould d. 1976 · political scientist
  • Harry Gould d. 1974 · newspaper editor
  • Honora Gould d. 1813

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 Gould,
in the records of 7 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 States5,190 records

5,190 records of the Gould name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 1,495
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 1,176
  • Other U.S. records 2,519
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Carroll S. Gould

    Born 1911 in Rhode Island. Enlisted 1943 at Providence; foreman. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1985, buried at Rhode Island Veteran Memorial Cemetery, Exeter, Rhode Island.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Alice Gould

    Arrived at New York in 1885 aboard the City of Rome from Liverpool, aged 19; servant. From Manchester, England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record William Irving Gould

    Born 1946; from New York, New York. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1967 in Binh Dinh, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 5,190 records for Gould in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Australia2,051 records

2,051 records of the Gould name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 851
  • Tasmanian Names Index 491
  • Other Australian records 709
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Gould

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Barossa, sailing from Sheerness in 1841. Native of Leicestershire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1850. Married 1850 in Hobart, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Eliza Gould

    Died 1898 in Longford, Tasmania, aged 43. Will registered in Tasmania in 1898.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Gould

    Arrived in Victoria in 1859 aboard the Zoboah, aged 40; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 2,051 records for Gould in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada1,204 records

1,204 records of the Gould name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 1,033
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 44
  • Other Canadian records 127
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Gould

    Came to Ontario in 1874 aboard the Sarmatian, landing at Quebec, bound for Collingwood, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record John Gould

    Killed in 1952 at the Dominion No. 20 mine, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Lillian Christina Gould

    Buried in 1985 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 89.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Showing 3 of 1,204 records for Gould in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom110 records

110 records of the Gould name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 84
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 20
  • Other British records 6
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William Gould

    Buried in 1812 at Logie Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 77.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record George Gould

    Will proved in 1935; of Swansea.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record L. Gould

    Somerset Light Infantry. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 110 records for Gould in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand38 records

38 records of the Gould name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 18
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 8
  • Other New Zealand records 12
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Helen Barbara Gould

    Died 1990, aged 86; buried at Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record George Thomas Quinton Gould

    Died 1995, aged 85; buried at Whangamata Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Norah Gould

    Died 1899, aged 20; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 38 records for Gould in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Canterbury Maps (Environment Canterbury), Timaru and Mackenzie District Councils (CC BY 3.0 NZ) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands8 records

8 records of the Gould name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 5
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 3
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Thomas Gould

    Married in 1725 in Rotterdam.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Birth record Elizer Gould

    Born 1821 in Vlissingen.

    Open Archives, Zeeuws Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 8 records for Gould in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

France6 records

6 records of the Gould name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Thomas Leo Gould

    Born 1930 in the United States; died 1997 in Bordeaux (Gironde).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Elisabeth Gladys Gould

    Born 1911 in Germany; died 1999 in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 6 records for Gould in France.

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 Gould.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Gould 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.

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