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

Daphnis, 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 Daphnis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Daphnis in America

Daphnis is the 106570th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Daphnis surname appeared 167 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 Daphnis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Daphnis 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 Daphnis

The surname Daphnis is of Greek origin and dates back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "daphne," which means laurel or bay tree. The laurel tree was sacred to the god Apollo in Greek mythology and was a symbol of victory and honor.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name Daphnis can be found in the ancient Greek pastoral poem "Daphnis and Chloe" by Longus, which is believed to have been written in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. In this work, Daphnis is the name of a young shepherd who falls in love with a young girl named Chloe.

During the Byzantine period, the name Daphnis was sometimes used as a personal name, but it was not until the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance that it became more commonly used as a surname. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Daphnis comes from a 14th-century manuscript from the island of Crete, which mentions a man named Georgios Daphnis.

In the 15th century, a Greek scholar and writer named Demetrios Daphnis (c. 1440-1510) lived in Venice and wrote several works on Greek grammar and literature. Another notable figure with the surname Daphnis was the Greek painter Theodoros Daphnis (1670-1736), who was known for his religious paintings and icons.

During the 19th century, the surname Daphnis became more widespread among Greek families, particularly in the regions of Greece and the Greek islands. One famous bearer of the name was the Greek writer and journalist Grigórios Daphnis (1860-1924), who was a prominent figure in the literary movement known as the Athenian Renaissance.

In more recent times, the surname Daphnis has been carried by several notable individuals, including the Greek composer and musician Dinos Daphnis (1921-1990), the Greek-American actress and singer Melina Daphnis (born 1954), and the Greek-American filmmaker and screenwriter Ari Daphnis (born 1974).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Daphnis

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

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

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

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