Cavagnaro last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Cavagnaro is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cavagnaro.

Meaning of Cavagnaro

A surname of Italian origin denoting someone from Cavagnaro, a town in northern Italy.

Cavagnaro, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cavagnaro surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cavagnaro in America

Cavagnaro is the 28100th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cavagnaro surname appeared 852 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Cavagnaro.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cavagnaro to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 28100 32267 -13.81%
Count 852 673 23.48%
Proportion per 100k 0.29 0.25 14.81%

The history of the last name Cavagnaro

The surname Cavagnaro has its origins in northern Italy, specifically in the Liguria region. It is believed to have emerged in the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century. The name is thought to derive from the Italian word "cavagna," which means "fishing net" or "fish trap," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name may have been fishermen or lived near fishing communities.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the surname Cavagnaro can be found in a document from the town of Genoa, dated around 1350. This document references a certain Giulio Cavagnaro, who was listed as a fisherman. It is likely that the name was already established in the coastal areas of Liguria at that time.

Over the centuries, the Cavagnaro name has appeared in various historical records and manuscripts, particularly those related to the maritime activities and fishing industries of the Ligurian coast. Some notable examples include the Annali di Genova, a historical chronicle detailing the events of the city of Genoa, which mentions several Cavagnaro families from the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Cavagnaro was Francesco Cavagnaro, born in 1512 in the town of Camogli, near Genoa. He was a renowned sailor and navigator who participated in several expeditions to the Americas and the Mediterranean.

Another notable figure was Giovanna Cavagnaro (1520-1588), a celebrated writer and poet from the city of Genoa. Her works, which explored themes of love and nature, were widely acclaimed during the Renaissance period.

In the 18th century, Giovanni Battista Cavagnaro (1720-1798) was a prominent shipbuilder and merchant in the port city of Savona. He established a successful business that contributed to the region's maritime trade and commerce.

The name Cavagnaro has also been associated with various place names and locations in the Liguria region, such as Cavagnaro di Ventimiglia, a small village near the French border, and Cavagnaro di Loano, a coastal hamlet near the town of Loano.

While the Cavagnaro surname has its roots in northern Italy, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora. However, the majority of historical records and notable individuals bearing this name can be traced back to the Ligurian coast and its rich maritime heritage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cavagnaro

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cavagnaro.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cavagnaro was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 93.19% 794
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.41% 12
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.82% 7
Hispanic Origin 4.34% 37

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cavagnaro has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 93.19% 94.95% -1.87%
Black (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.41% 0.89% 45.22%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Two or More Races 0.82% 1.63% -66.12%
Hispanic 4.34% 2.53% 52.69%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cavagnaro was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cavagnaro, please contact us.

Reference this page

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"Cavagnaro last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on August 2, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/cavagnaro-surname-popularity/.

"Cavagnaro last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/cavagnaro-surname-popularity/. Accessed 2 August, 2025

Cavagnaro last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/cavagnaro-surname-popularity/.

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