The Gent Family Name

If your family name is Gent, its origin lies with Gant, an English surname. Surname dictionaries give the meaning as “Glove / from Ghent”. Spelled with “e” instead of “a”, Gent shows how the same name was heard and written differently. Regional accents shaped spellings long before dictionaries fixed them.

In the 2010 US Census, 2,199 Americans gave Gent as their last name (rank 13,759). From 1891 to 2000, 126 births in France were registered under Gent. Births ran at 17 in 1891–1900 and 13 in 1991–2000.

Heraldry is personal: arms associated with the Gant surname were borne by specific families, and sharing the name does not mean sharing the blazon. Research your Gent family history with a full surname report and painted coat of arms.