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

Columbus, 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 Columbus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Columbus in America

Columbus is the 14624th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Columbus surname appeared 2,035 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Columbus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Columbus 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.

The history of the last name Columbus

The surname Columbus is derived from the Latin name "Columbanus" which means "dove". It originated in Italy and was initially used as a nickname or descriptive name for someone who had some association with doves or the color of doves.

The earliest known record of the surname Columbus dates back to the 13th century in the region of Genoa, Italy. A document from 1264 mentions a man named Luca de Colonbo, which is an early variant spelling of the name. Another early record is from 1311, which refers to a Genoese man named Martino Colombo.

By the 14th century, the name had spread to other parts of Italy, such as Piacenza and Modena. In the late 15th century, the famous explorer Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) brought the name to global prominence. He was born in Genoa and his full name was Cristoforo Colombo in Italian.

Other notable individuals with the surname Columbus include the Italian mathematician and engineer Giovanni Battista Colombo (1520-1584), who made contributions to the study of ballistics. In the 17th century, the Italian baroque painter Bernardo Colombo (1590-1683) was known for his religious paintings and frescoes.

In the United States, the surname Columbus can be traced back to Italian immigrants who arrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries. One prominent American with the name was Ralph J. Colombo (1923-2015), a businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 1963 to 1971.

The surname Columbus has also been found in other variations such as Colombo, Colón, and Colon, particularly in Spanish-speaking regions due to the influence of Christopher Columbus' explorations and the subsequent colonization of the Americas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Columbus

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

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 Columbus was:

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 Columbus has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

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 Columbus was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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