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

Foti, 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 Foti surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Foti in America

Foti is the 11653rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Foti surname appeared 2,690 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Foti.

We can also compare 2010 data for Foti 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 Foti

The surname Foti has its origins in Italy, specifically in the southern regions of Sicily and Calabria. It is believed to have derived from the Greek word "phos" or "photos," meaning light or illumination. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who worked with light or fire, such as a candlemaker or a lighthouse keeper.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Foti can be found in the Sicilian census records from the 16th century. During this time, the name was often spelled as "Fothi" or "Fotis," reflecting the Greek influence in the region.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Foti surname became more widespread throughout southern Italy. Notable individuals bearing this name during this period include Vincenzo Foti (1615-1688), a prominent Sicilian merchant and landowner, and Gaetano Foti (1778-1856), a Calabrian philosopher and writer.

As the Foti family spread across Italy, they also established roots in various cities and towns. For instance, the town of Foti di Arcevia in the Marche region is believed to have been named after a Foti family who settled there in the Middle Ages.

One of the most famous individuals with the Foti surname is Salvatore Foti (1853-1925), an Italian-American artist and sculptor known for his work on various public monuments in New York City, including the famous Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in Brooklyn.

Other notable figures with the Foti surname include Antonio Foti (1906-1982), an Italian film director and screenwriter; Giovanni Foti (1899-1965), a Sicilian politician and lawyer; and Vincenzo Foti (1923-2008), an Italian-American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Foti Ophthalmic Institute in Philadelphia.

While the Foti surname has its roots in southern Italy, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly through Italian immigration to countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Foti

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

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

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

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