2000
#11,260
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,577
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.96
Rare Last name
Defilippo
An Italian surname referring to a person from Filippo or indicating a descendant of someone named Filippo.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,237 Americans carry the last name Defilippo. That puts it at #14,652 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 153,221 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Defilippo 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
2.2K
1 in 153,221
Census rank
#14,652
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,951 bearers of the surname Defilippo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14652nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Defilippo, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Defilippo
DeFilippo is an Italian surname that originated in southern Italy, particularly in the regions of Campania, Calabria, and Sicily. The name is a patronymic derived from the personal name Filippo, which means "lover of horses" in Greek.
The earliest known record of the DeFilippo surname dates back to the 13th century in the town of Amalfi, located in the province of Salerno, Campania. In a manuscript from 1275, a certain Nicola DeFilippo is mentioned as a merchant in the local trade guild.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the DeFilippo name can be found in various historical documents from the Kingdom of Naples, such as tax records and land registries. One notable example is Giovanni DeFilippo, a nobleman from Calabria who served as a military captain under King Alfonso V of Aragon in the mid-15th century.
In the 16th century, the DeFilippo family spread across other parts of southern Italy, including Sicily. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname in Sicily was Vincenzo DeFilippo, born in Palermo in 1548, who was a renowned artist and painter during the Italian Renaissance.
Another notable figure in the history of the DeFilippo surname is Gaetano DeFilippo, a Neapolitan playwright and actor who lived from 1829 to 1889. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Neapolitan theatrical tradition and wrote several popular comedies in the Neapolitan dialect.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many individuals with the DeFilippo surname immigrated to the United States, particularly to New York City, where they established a significant Italian-American community. One of the most famous DeFilippos was Edward V. DeFilippo, born in 1922, who served as a United States Representative for New York's 1st congressional district from 1975 to 1983.
Other notable individuals with the DeFilippo surname include Maria DeFilippo, an Italian businesswoman and philanthropist who founded the DeFilippo Foundation in Naples in the early 20th century, and Sergio DeFilippo, an Italian-American film director and screenwriter born in 1950, known for his work in independent cinema.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Defilippo
Among Census respondents with the surname Defilippo, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Defilippo 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 Defilippo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 1,801
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 92
- Two or more races1.7% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 17
- Black or African American0.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Defilippo
Defilippo 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
#10,731
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,975
+398 bearers (+15.4%)
Per 100,000 1.01
Rank movement Up 529 places
2020
#14,652
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,951
-1,024 bearers (-34.4%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 3,921 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,260 | 2,577 | 0.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,731 | 2,975 | 1.01 | +398 bearers (+15.4%) | Up 529 places |
| 2020 | #14,652 | 1,951 | 0.65 | -1,024 bearers (-34.4%) | Down 3,921 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 Defilippo 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 | #10,731 | #14,652 | -36.5% |
| Count | 2,975 | 1,951 | -34.4% |
| Per 100K | 1.01 | 0.65 | -35.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Defilippo bearers went from 2,975 to 1,951 (-34.4% change). The surname moved down 3,921 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,731 to #14,652.
FAQ
Defilippo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Defilippo?
Name Census estimates that about 2,237 living Americans carry the surname Defilippo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 153,221 residents.
How common is Defilippo?
Defilippo ranks #14,652 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,951 people with the surname Defilippo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,237), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Defilippo.
Has Defilippo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Defilippo went from 2,975 recorded bearers to 1,951. That is a decrease of 1,024 (-34.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,731 to #14,652.
What does the Census say about the background of Defilippo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Defilippo, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Defilippo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (1,801 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Defilippo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (4.7%), Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Defilippo (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 Defilippo mean?
An Italian surname referring to a person from Filippo or indicating a descendant of someone named Filippo. 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 Defilippo (0.65 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 Defilippo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.