2000
#34,856
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 613
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.23
Very Rare Last name
Capito
An occupational surname Italian in origin meaning "commander" or "captain".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 808 Americans carry the last name Capito. That puts it at #34,583 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.24 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 424,201 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Capito 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.
Bearers in the US
808
1 in 424,201
Census rank
#34,583
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
705
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 705 bearers of the surname Capito in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.24 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 34583rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Capito, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Black (6.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Capito
The surname Capito originated in Italy during the late Middle Ages. It is derived from the Latin word 'caput', meaning head or leader, suggesting that the earliest bearers may have held positions of authority or leadership roles within their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Regni Siciliae, a collection of medieval documents from southern Italy, dating back to the 12th century. Here, a certain "Robertus Capito" is mentioned as a witness to a legal transaction.
In the 13th century, a prominent family bearing the name Capito resided in the city of Arezzo, Tuscany. Historical records from this period refer to a "Guido Capito" who served as a magistrate and played a significant role in the city's political affairs.
The name Capito also appeared in the Florentine Codex, a 16th-century ethnographic work chronicling the history and culture of the Aztec people. One of its authors was a Franciscan friar named Bernardino de Sahagún, whose birth name was Bernardino Ribera de Capito (1499-1590).
During the Renaissance, a notable figure bearing the surname Capito was Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (1478-1541), a German Renaissance humanist, theologian, and reformer who played a crucial role in the Protestant Reformation.
Another prominent individual with this surname was Galeazzo Capito (1580-1638), an Italian painter and engraver from the Baroque period, known for his religious and mythological works.
In the 19th century, a distinguished bearer of the name was Giovanni Battista Capito (1824-1897), an Italian lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the Minister of Public Education in the Kingdom of Italy.
The surname Capito has also been found in various regions of Italy, such as Campania, Lazio, and Lombardy, with slight variations in spelling, including Capitone and Capitoni.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Capito
Among Census respondents with the surname Capito, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Black (6.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Capito 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 Capito surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.3% · 517
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.3% · 87
- Black or African American6.2% · 44
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 34
- Two or more races2.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Capito
Capito 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
#38,948
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 566
-47 bearers (-7.7%)
Per 100,000 0.19
Rank movement Down 4,092 places
2020
#34,583
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 705
+139 bearers (+24.6%)
Per 100,000 0.24
Rank movement Up 4,365 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #34,856 | 613 | 0.23 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #38,948 | 566 | 0.19 | -47 bearers (-7.7%) | Down 4,092 places |
| 2020 | #34,583 | 705 | 0.24 | +139 bearers (+24.6%) | Up 4,365 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 Capito 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 | #38,948 | #34,583 | 11.2% |
| Count | 566 | 705 | 24.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.19 | 0.24 | 24.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Capito bearers went from 566 to 705 (+24.6% change). The surname moved up 4,365 positions in the national ranking, going from #38,948 to #34,583.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Capito
FAQ
Capito surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Capito?
Name Census estimates that about 808 living Americans carry the surname Capito. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 424,201 residents.
How common is Capito?
Capito ranks #34,583 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.24 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 705 people with the surname Capito. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (808), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.24 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.24 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Capito.
Has Capito become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Capito went from 566 recorded bearers to 705. That is an increase of 139 (+24.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #38,948 to #34,583.
What does the Census say about the background of Capito?
Among Census respondents with the surname Capito, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Black (6.2%). 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 Capito in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.3% (517 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Capito appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (73.3%), Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%), Black (6.2%). 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 Capito (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 Capito mean?
An occupational surname Italian in origin meaning "commander" or "captain". 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 Capito (0.24 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 Americans have the surname Capito?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.