2000
#124,872
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 127
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Fondacaro
A surname derived from the Italian word "fonda" meaning a cottage or small farmhouse.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 165 Americans carry the last name Fondacaro. That puts it at #125,089 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.05 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,077,299 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Fondacaro 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
165
1 in 2,077,299
Census rank
#125,089
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
144
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 144 bearers of the surname Fondacaro in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.05 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 125089th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Fondacaro, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.9%) and Black (1.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Fondacaro
The surname Fondacaro has its origins in Italy, specifically in the southern regions of Sicily and Calabria. It can be traced back to the early 16th century, deriving from the Italian words "fondo" meaning bottom or base, and "caro" meaning dear or beloved. This suggests the name may have originally referred to someone who lived at the bottom or base of a hill or mountain, in an area that was cherished or held dear.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fondacaro appears in a Sicilian land registry from 1538, documenting a Francesco Fondacaro as a landowner in the town of Palermo. The spelling variations "Fondacharo" and "Fundacaro" are also found in historical records from the same time period in neighboring regions.
In the 17th century, the name is mentioned in a manuscript detailing the construction of a church in the Calabrian town of Reggio, where a stonemason named Giacomo Fondacaro is listed among the skilled workers involved in the project. This provides evidence of the name's presence in both Sicily and mainland Calabria during that era.
Notable individuals with the surname Fondacaro throughout history include Giuseppe Fondacaro (1780-1852), a Sicilian painter and sculptor renowned for his religious works adorning churches across the island. Another is Antonio Fondacaro (1856-1923), a lawyer and politician from Reggio Calabria who served as a member of the Italian Parliament in the early 20th century.
Other examples include Maria Fondacaro (1902-1989), a Sicilian author and poet whose works explored themes of love, loss, and the beauty of her native island, and Vincenzo Fondacaro (1925-2001), a Calabrian-born engineer who played a significant role in the development of Italy's infrastructure and transportation systems during the post-war period.
Fondacaro is also the surname of Salvatore Fondacaro (1956-), a contemporary Italian-American artist and sculptor based in New York, known for his large-scale public installations and collaborations with architects.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fondacaro
Among Census respondents with the surname Fondacaro, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.9%) and Black (1.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Fondacaro 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 Fondacaro surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.6% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino13.9% · 20
- Black or African American1.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 2
- Two or more races0.7% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Fondacaro
Fondacaro 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
#118,853
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 146
+19 bearers (+15.0%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Up 6,019 places
2020
#125,089
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 144
-2 bearers (-1.4%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 6,236 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #124,872 | 127 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #118,853 | 146 | 0.05 | +19 bearers (+15.0%) | Up 6,019 places |
| 2020 | #125,089 | 144 | 0.05 | -2 bearers (-1.4%) | Down 6,236 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 Fondacaro 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 | #118,853 | #125,089 | -5.2% |
| Count | 146 | 144 | -1.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.05 | -3.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Fondacaro bearers went from 146 to 144 (-1.4% change). The surname moved down 6,236 positions in the national ranking, going from #118,853 to #125,089.
FAQ
Fondacaro surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Fondacaro?
Name Census estimates that about 165 living Americans carry the surname Fondacaro. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,077,299 residents.
How common is Fondacaro?
Fondacaro ranks #125,089 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.05 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 144 people with the surname Fondacaro. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (165), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.05 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.05 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Fondacaro.
Has Fondacaro become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Fondacaro went from 146 recorded bearers to 144. That is a decrease of 2 (-1.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #118,853 to #125,089.
What does the Census say about the background of Fondacaro?
Among Census respondents with the surname Fondacaro, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.9%) and Black (1.4%). 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 Fondacaro in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.6% (119 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Fondacaro appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.6%), Hispanic (13.9%), Black (1.4%). 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 Fondacaro (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 Fondacaro mean?
A surname derived from the Italian word "fonda" meaning a cottage or small farmhouse. 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 Fondacaro (0.05 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 common is the surname Fondacaro?
See how many Americans have the surname Fondacaro on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.