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

Eco, 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 Eco surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Eco in America

Eco is the 135593rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Eco surname appeared 124 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 Eco.

The history of the last name Eco

The surname "Eco" is of Italian origin, specifically from the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It first emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century.

The name is derived from the Italian word "eco," which means "echo" or "reverberation." It's believed that the name was initially given as a nickname or a descriptive name to someone who lived near a canyon, valley, or mountainous area where echoes were common.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 14th-century Piedmontese manuscript, "Conti della Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista," which mentions a certain "Giovanni Eco" from the town of Moncalieri.

In the 15th century, the surname appears in various records from the Piedmont region, such as the "Catasto di Torino" (1475), which lists several Eco families living in and around Turin.

A notable bearer of the name was Giovanni Battista Eco (1574-1638), an Italian architect and engineer who designed several notable buildings in Turin, including the Church of Santa Cristina and the Palazzo Madama.

Another prominent figure was Umberto Eco (1932-2016), the renowned Italian novelist, literary critic, and semiotician. He was best known for his novel "The Name of the Rose" (1980), which became an international bestseller.

In the 17th century, the name appears in the records of the town of Cuneo, where a certain Pietro Eco (1623-1691) was a respected lawyer and judge.

The Eco surname has also been found in other parts of Italy, such as the regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, although it remains most prevalent in Piedmont.

Other notable bearers of the name include Gian Luca Eco (born 1968), an Italian film director and screenwriter, and Umberto Eco Jr. (born 1954), the son of the famous novelist and a professor of environmental science.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Eco

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

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 Eco 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.

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

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

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