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

Commodore, 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 Commodore surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Commodore in America

Commodore is the 25403rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Commodore surname appeared 974 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 Commodore.

We can also compare 2010 data for Commodore 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 Commodore

The surname Commodore is an occupational name derived from the Latin word 'commodorus', which means the commander of a fleet or squadron of ships. The name originated in the Mediterranean region, particularly in Italy, during the 15th and 16th centuries when naval warfare and maritime trade were flourishing.

The earliest recorded use of the name Commodore dates back to the late 15th century in Venice, where it referred to a high-ranking naval officer in charge of a squadron of ships. The name was also adopted in other maritime nations like Spain, Portugal, and France, where it was spelled as 'Comodoro' or 'Commodore'.

One of the earliest known references to the name Commodore can be found in the records of the Venetian Republic, where a certain Alvise Commodore was mentioned as the commander of a naval squadron in 1492. Another notable figure was Juan Bautista Commodore, a Spanish naval officer who participated in the colonization of the Americas in the early 16th century.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Commodore became more widely used in the English-speaking world, particularly in the British Royal Navy. Some notable individuals with this surname include Sir Isaac Commodore (1617-1676), an English naval commander who served during the Anglo-Dutch Wars, and Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858), an American naval officer who led the expedition to open Japan to western trade in 1853.

The surname Commodore has also been associated with various place names, such as Commodore Heights in New York, Commodore Islands in Papua New Guinea, and Commodore Bay in South Georgia, which were likely named after individuals with this surname or their naval exploits.

Other notable individuals with the surname Commodore include Joseph Nicolas Commodore (1763-1829), a French naval officer and explorer, Commodore John Barry (1745-1803), an American naval officer who is often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", and Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779-1820), an American naval officer renowned for his heroic actions during the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Commodore

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

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

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

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