2010
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Gagni
Surname referring to someone from a town or area called Gagni.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 123 Americans carry the last name Gagni. That puts it at #151,639 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,786,621 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gagni 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
123
1 in 2,786,621
Census rank
#151,639
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
107
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 107 bearers of the surname Gagni in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 151639th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gagni, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and White (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gagni
The surname GAGNI has its origins in the Abruzzi region of central Italy, where it first appeared around the 11th century. The name is believed to be derived from the Latin word "gagnum," which means "marshy area" or "wetland." This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name may have lived in or near a marshy region.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the GAGNI name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Ecclesiae Aprutinae, a collection of documents from the 11th to the 13th centuries related to the Abbey of San Clemente a Casauria in Abruzzo. In this manuscript, a certain "Petrus de Gagno" is mentioned in a document dated 1142.
The name also appears in several other medieval Italian records, such as the Rationes Decimarum Italiae, a collection of papal tax records from the 13th and 14th centuries. In these records, the name is sometimes spelled as "Gagnio" or "Gagno."
One notable bearer of the GAGNI surname was Francesco Gagni, a 15th-century Italian painter from the town of Viterbo, near Rome. He is known for his frescoes in the Church of Santa Maria della Verità in Viterbo, which were completed around 1470.
Another prominent figure with the GAGNI name was Girolamo Gagni, an Italian botanist and physician who lived in the 16th century. He was born in the town of Bergamo in 1497 and is best known for his work on the medicinal properties of plants.
In the 17th century, a nobleman named Gian Battista Gagni served as the governor of the town of Macerata in the Marche region of Italy. He held this position from 1662 to 1665.
During the 18th century, the GAGNI name can be found in various records from the Kingdom of Naples, which included parts of southern Italy and Sicily at the time. For example, a man named Domenico Gagni is listed as a landowner in the town of Altamura in the 1740s.
In the 19th century, a notable bearer of the GAGNI surname was Giuseppe Gagni, an Italian painter and art teacher who was born in Naples in 1822. He was known for his landscapes and scenes of everyday life in Naples.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gagni
Among Census respondents with the surname Gagni, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and White (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Gagni 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 Gagni surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander81.3% · 87
- Two or more races11.2% · 12
- White3.7% · 4
- Black or African American1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gagni
Gagni appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#151,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
-7 bearers (-6.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 6,419 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #151,639 | 107 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-6.1%) | Down 6,419 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 Gagni 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 | #145,220 | #151,639 | -4.4% |
| Count | 114 | 107 | -6.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -10.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gagni bearers went from 114 to 107 (-6.1% change). The surname moved down 6,419 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #151,639.
FAQ
Gagni surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gagni?
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the surname Gagni. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,786,621 residents.
How common is Gagni?
Gagni ranks #151,639 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 107 people with the surname Gagni. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (123), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Gagni.
Has Gagni become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gagni went from 114 recorded bearers to 107. That is a decrease of 7 (-6.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #151,639.
What does the Census say about the background of Gagni?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gagni, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and White (3.7%). 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?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gagni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.3% (87 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gagni appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (81.3%), Two or More Races (11.2%), White (3.7%). 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 Gagni (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 Gagni mean?
Surname referring to someone from a town or area called Gagni. 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 Gagni (0.04 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 many people share the surname Gagni?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.