2000
#71,372
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 255
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.09
Very Rare Last name
Girolami
An Italian surname derived from the given name Girolamo, meaning "sacred name".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 288 Americans carry the last name Girolami. That puts it at #81,311 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.08 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,190,119 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Girolami 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
288
1 in 1,190,119
Census rank
#81,311
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
251
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 251 bearers of the surname Girolami in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.08 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 81311th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Girolami, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.2%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Girolami
The surname Girolami has its origins in Italy, where it first appeared in the late medieval period. The name is derived from the given name Girolamo, which is the Italian form of the name Hieronymus, the Latin version of the Greek name Hieronymos.
Girolami is a patronymic surname, meaning it was originally used to identify someone as the son or descendant of a person named Girolamo. The earliest recorded instances of the surname date back to the 13th and 14th centuries in regions like Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Girolamo Girolami, a Franciscan friar and theologian who lived from 1245 to 1322. He was a prominent figure in the intellectual life of medieval Italy and authored several influential works on philosophy and theology.
Another notable individual with this surname was Giovanni Battista Girolami, a 16th-century Italian painter active in Florence. He is best known for his frescoes in the Palazzo Vecchio and other churches in the city.
In the 17th century, Enrico Girolami was a renowned architect and engineer from Bologna. He was responsible for designing several important buildings and fortifications in his native city and surrounding areas.
During the 18th century, the Girolami family produced several notable figures in the fields of law and politics. Francesco Girolami was a prominent jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
In the 19th century, Vincenzo Girolami was an Italian patriot and military leader who played a significant role in the Risorgimento, the movement for Italian unification and independence from foreign rule.
Throughout its history, the Girolami surname has been associated with various places in Italy, often reflecting the geographic origins of different branches of the family. Some examples include Girolami di Firenze (Girolami of Florence), Girolami di Bologna, and Girolami di Siena.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Girolami
Among Census respondents with the surname Girolami, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.2%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Girolami 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 Girolami surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.6% · 245
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 3
- Two or more races0.8% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Girolami
Girolami 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
#71,478
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 273
+18 bearers (+7.1%)
Per 100,000 0.09
Rank movement Down 106 places
2020
#81,311
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 251
-22 bearers (-8.1%)
Per 100,000 0.08
Rank movement Down 9,833 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #71,372 | 255 | 0.09 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #71,478 | 273 | 0.09 | +18 bearers (+7.1%) | Down 106 places |
| 2020 | #81,311 | 251 | 0.08 | -22 bearers (-8.1%) | Down 9,833 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 Girolami 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 | #71,478 | #81,311 | -13.8% |
| Count | 273 | 251 | -8.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.09 | 0.08 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Girolami bearers went from 273 to 251 (-8.1% change). The surname moved down 9,833 positions in the national ranking, going from #71,478 to #81,311.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Girolami
FAQ
Girolami surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Girolami?
Name Census estimates that about 288 living Americans carry the surname Girolami. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,190,119 residents.
How common is Girolami?
Girolami ranks #81,311 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 251 people with the surname Girolami. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (288), 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 Girolami.
Has Girolami become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Girolami went from 273 recorded bearers to 251. That is a decrease of 22 (-8.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #71,478 to #81,311.
What does the Census say about the background of Girolami?
Among Census respondents with the surname Girolami, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.2%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Girolami in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.6% (245 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Girolami appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.6%), Hispanic (1.2%), Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Girolami (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 Girolami mean?
An Italian surname derived from the given name Girolamo, meaning "sacred name". 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 Girolami (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 Girolami?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.