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

Fano, 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 Fano surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fano in America

Fano is the 43732nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fano surname appeared 493 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 Fano.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fano 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 Fano

The surname Fano is believed to have originated in Italy, specifically in the region of Emilia-Romagna. It is derived from the Italian town of Fano, which dates back to ancient Roman times and was known as Fanum Fortunae, meaning "Shrine of Fortune." The town's name is thought to have come from the Latin word "fanum," referring to a sacred place or temple.

Fano is considered a toponymic surname, meaning it was originally derived from a place name. This type of surname became common during the Middle Ages when people began using their place of origin or residence as a way to distinguish themselves from others with the same first name.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Fano can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the region of Emilia-Romagna, dated around the 12th century. This suggests that the surname was already in use by that time.

In the 13th century, a man named Guido Fano was mentioned in the records of the city of Bologna, indicating the presence of individuals bearing this surname in the area. Another notable figure was Francesco Fano, a philosopher and theologian who lived in the 14th century and taught at the University of Bologna.

During the Renaissance period, the Fano family played a significant role in the cultural and artistic life of Italy. One prominent member was Sebastiano Fano, a renowned painter and sculptor who was active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. His works can be found in various churches and museums throughout Italy.

In the 17th century, a famous mathematician and astronomer named Giovanni Fano made important contributions to the fields of geometry and celestial mechanics. He was born in Fano in 1615 and spent much of his career as a professor at the University of Bologna.

Another notable figure was Enrico Fano, an Italian physicist and mathematician who lived from 1856 to 1943. He made significant contributions to the fields of algebraic geometry and tensor analysis, and his work is still widely studied and referenced today.

As the surname Fano spread beyond Italy, it can be found in historical records and documents from various other European countries, as well as in the Americas, where Italian immigrants brought the name in later centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fano

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!