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

Finelli, 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 Finelli surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Finelli in America

Finelli is the 28065th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Finelli surname appeared 853 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 Finelli.

We can also compare 2010 data for Finelli 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 Finelli

The surname Finelli originated in Italy, specifically in the northern region of Lombardy during the medieval period. It is derived from the Italian word "finello," which means "fine" or "delicate," and was likely used as a nickname or a descriptive term for someone with a slender or elegant physique.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Finelli can be found in the Codice Diplomatico Longobardo, a collection of legal documents from the Lombard period in Italy, dating back to the 8th century. This suggests that the name has a long history and was potentially used as a surname during that time.

In the 13th century, the name Finelli appears in the records of the city of Cremona, a town in the province of Lombardy. A notable figure from this era was Guglielmo Finelli, a wealthy merchant and landowner who lived in Cremona in the late 1200s.

During the Renaissance period, the Finelli family gained prominence in the city of Milan. Giovan Battista Finelli (1522-1589) was a renowned architect and engineer who designed several notable buildings in Milan, including the Church of San Fedele and the Palazzo di Giustizia.

Another notable figure was Filippo Finelli (1640-1718), a Italian painter from the Baroque period. He was best known for his religious works and portraits, many of which can be found in churches and galleries throughout Italy.

In the 19th century, Giuseppe Finelli (1815-1886) was an Italian politician and journalist from the town of Mantua. He played a significant role in the Risorgimento movement, which aimed to unify the various states of the Italian peninsula into a single nation.

The surname Finelli also has variants and similar spellings, such as Fineli, Finellini, and Finelletti, which can be found in various regions of Italy. These variations likely emerged due to regional dialects and local pronunciations of the name over time.

While the Finelli surname originated in Italy, it has since spread to other parts of the world through immigration and migration patterns. However, its roots can be traced back to the medieval and Renaissance periods in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, where it was likely first used as a descriptive nickname before becoming an established surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Finelli

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

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

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

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