2000
#108,734
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 151
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.06
Very Rare Last name
Giorgis
A variant of the Greek surname Georgios, meaning farmer or earth worker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 281 Americans carry the last name Giorgis. That puts it at #82,881 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.08 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,219,766 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Giorgis 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
281
1 in 1,219,766
Census rank
#82,881
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
245
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 245 bearers of the surname Giorgis in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.08 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 82881st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Giorgis, the largest self-reported group is White at 53.5%. The next largest groups are Black (38.0%) and Hispanic (5.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Giorgis
The surname Giorgis has its origins in Italy, with roots dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to be a patronymic form derived from the given name Giorgio, which is the Italian equivalent of the name George. This name traces its origins to the Greek word "γεωργός" (georgos), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker."
Giorgis is particularly prevalent in the regions of Piedmont and Liguria in northwestern Italy. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in historical documents from these areas, such as tax records and local parish registers from the 13th and 14th centuries.
One notable early bearer of the name was Giorgis da Novara, a 13th-century Italian jurist and legal scholar from the city of Novara in Piedmont. His influential work, "Lectura super Codice," published in the late 1200s, was a comprehensive commentary on the Codex Justinianus, a fundamental text of Roman civil law.
Another prominent figure was Giorgis Ceva, a 14th-century nobleman and military commander from the town of Ceva in Piedmont. He played a significant role in the conflicts between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, two rival factions that dominated Italian politics during the medieval period.
In the 15th century, Giorgis Paleologus, a member of the Byzantine imperial family, fled Constantinople after its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. He sought refuge in Italy and eventually settled in the city of Genoa, where his descendants adopted the surname Giorgis.
During the Renaissance period, the Giorgis family produced several notable figures, including the humanist scholar Giorgis Merula (1430-1494), who served as the rector of the University of Milan and was renowned for his works on classical literature and philosophy.
In the 17th century, Giorgis Valerio (1590-1648) was a prominent Baroque painter from Genoa, known for his religious works adorning various churches and palaces throughout Italy.
Throughout its history, the surname Giorgis has maintained a strong presence in northwestern Italy, particularly in the regions of Piedmont and Liguria. While the name has spread to other parts of Italy and beyond, its roots can be traced back to the medieval period and the cultural and historical influences of these regions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Giorgis
Among Census respondents with the surname Giorgis, the largest self-reported group is White at 53.5%. The next largest groups are Black (38.0%) and Hispanic (5.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Giorgis 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 Giorgis surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.5% · 131
- Black or African American38.0% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 13
- Two or more races2.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Giorgis
Giorgis 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
#88,685
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 209
+58 bearers (+38.4%)
Per 100,000 0.07
Rank movement Up 20,049 places
2020
#82,881
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 245
+36 bearers (+17.2%)
Per 100,000 0.08
Rank movement Up 5,804 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #108,734 | 151 | 0.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #88,685 | 209 | 0.07 | +58 bearers (+38.4%) | Up 20,049 places |
| 2020 | #82,881 | 245 | 0.08 | +36 bearers (+17.2%) | Up 5,804 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 Giorgis 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 | #88,685 | #82,881 | 6.5% |
| Count | 209 | 245 | 17.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.07 | 0.08 | 17.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Giorgis bearers went from 209 to 245 (+17.2% change). The surname moved up 5,804 positions in the national ranking, going from #88,685 to #82,881.
FAQ
Giorgis surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Giorgis?
Name Census estimates that about 281 living Americans carry the surname Giorgis. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,219,766 residents.
How common is Giorgis?
Giorgis ranks #82,881 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.08 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 245 people with the surname Giorgis. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (281), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.08 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.08 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 Giorgis.
Has Giorgis become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Giorgis went from 209 recorded bearers to 245. That is an increase of 36 (+17.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #88,685 to #82,881.
What does the Census say about the background of Giorgis?
Among Census respondents with the surname Giorgis, the largest self-reported group is White at 53.5%. The next largest groups are Black (38.0%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Giorgis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.5% (131 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Giorgis appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (53.5%), Black (38.0%), Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Giorgis (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 Giorgis mean?
A variant of the Greek surname Georgios, meaning farmer or earth worker. 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 Giorgis (0.08 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 have the surname Giorgis?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.