2000
#1,480
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 22,062
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.18
Uncommon Last name
Godwin
Derived from the Old English personal name "Godwine," meaning "friend of God" or "good friend."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 24,980 Americans carry the last name Godwin. That puts it at #1,603 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 7.29 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 13,721 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Godwin surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Godwin with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
25K
1 in 13,721
Census rank
#1,603
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
22K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 21,784 bearers of the surname Godwin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 7.29 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1603rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Godwin, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Godwin
The surname Godwin is of Old English origin, derived from the personal name Godwine, which means "friend of God" or "divine friend." It is believed to have originated in the 9th or 10th century in the counties of Somerset and Dorset in southwestern England.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Godwine, Earl of Wessex, who lived from around 990 to 1053. He was a powerful Anglo-Saxon nobleman and the father of King Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England before the Norman Conquest.
The name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership and population in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. Several individuals with the surname Godwin or variations such as Godwine and Godwyne are recorded in this historic document.
Another notable bearer of the name was Thomas Godwin, a 16th-century English bishop and theologian, who lived from around 1517 to 1590. He served as Bishop of Bath and Wells and was an influential figure in the English Reformation.
In the 17th century, Mary Godwin, later known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, was born in 1797. She was an English novelist and is best known as the author of the iconic novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus."
William Godwin, born in 1756 and died in 1836, was a renowned English philosopher, political theorist, and novelist. He was an influential figure in the Romantic period and is considered one of the founders of philosophical anarchism.
During the 19th century, Parke Godwin, an American journalist and author, lived from 1816 to 1904. He is best known for his biographies of prominent figures such as William Cullen Bryant and his historical novels set during the American Revolution.
The surname Godwin has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Godwin's Croft, Godwinscroft, and Godwinstre, which may have influenced the surname's development and spread across different regions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Godwin
Among Census respondents with the surname Godwin, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Godwin bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Godwin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.8% · 17,156
- Black or African American12.3% · 2,684
- Two or more races3.8% · 838
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 611
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 300
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 195
Timeline
Historical Census data for Godwin
Godwin appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,583
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 22,628
+566 bearers (+2.6%)
Per 100,000 7.67
Rank movement Down 103 places
2020
#1,603
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,784
-844 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 7.29
Rank movement Down 20 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,480 | 22,062 | 8.18 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,583 | 22,628 | 7.67 | +566 bearers (+2.6%) | Down 103 places |
| 2020 | #1,603 | 21,784 | 7.29 | -844 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 20 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Godwin surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,583 | #1,603 | -1.3% |
| Count | 22,628 | 21,784 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 7.67 | 7.29 | -5.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Godwin bearers went from 22,628 to 21,784 (-3.7% change). The surname moved down 20 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,583 to #1,603.
FAQ
Godwin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Godwin?
Name Census estimates that about 24,980 living Americans carry the surname Godwin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 13,721 residents.
How common is Godwin?
Godwin ranks #1,603 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 7.29 per 100,000 residents, which is about 7 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 21,784 people with the surname Godwin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (24,980), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 7.29 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 7.29 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 7 of them to have the surname Godwin.
Has Godwin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Godwin went from 22,628 recorded bearers to 21,784. That is a decrease of 844 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,583 to #1,603.
What does the Census say about the background of Godwin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Godwin, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Godwin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.8% (17,156 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Godwin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (78.8%), Black (12.3%), Two or More Races (3.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Godwin (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Godwin mean?
Derived from the Old English personal name "Godwine," meaning "friend of God" or "good friend." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Godwin (7.29 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Godwin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.