2000
#4,857
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,632
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.46
Rare Last name
Guarino
Derived from an Italian personal name meaning "warrior" or "defender."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,095 Americans carry the last name Guarino. That puts it at #5,443 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.07 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 48,309 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Guarino 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Guarino with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.1K
1 in 48,309
Census rank
#5,443
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,187 bearers of the surname Guarino in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.07 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5443rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Guarino, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Guarino
The surname Guarino is of Italian origin, tracing its roots back to the medieval period in southern Italy. It is derived from the personal name "Guarin," which itself has Germanic origins and means "watchful" or "wary."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Guarino can be found in a document from the 11th century, which mentions a nobleman named Guarino di Aversa, who hailed from the town of Aversa in the region of Campania. This region, along with neighboring areas like Apulia and Calabria, have long been associated with the Guarino surname.
During the Renaissance period, the name gained prominence through the scholarly achievements of Guarino da Verona (1370-1460), a renowned humanist and educator who played a pivotal role in the revival of classical learning in Italy. He established a highly influential school in Ferrara and trained several notable figures of the time, including Leon Battista Alberti.
Another notable figure with the surname Guarino was Battista Guarino (1537-1612), a 16th-century Italian poet and playwright who was also known for his works on Aristotelian philosophy. His works, such as "Il Pastor Fido" and "Compendio della Poetica d'Aristotele," were widely read and influential during the Renaissance period.
In the 18th century, the Guarino family produced another noteworthy individual, Francesco Guarino (1737-1815), who was a lawyer and legal scholar from Naples. He was known for his work on criminal law and served as a judge in the Supreme Court of Naples during the Napoleonic era.
Moving into the 19th century, Giuseppe Guarino (1827-1897) was an Italian politician and jurist who served as a member of the Italian parliament and played a role in the unification of Italy. He was also known for his contributions to the field of administrative law.
Throughout history, variations of the surname Guarino have included spellings such as Guarini, Guarinoni, and Guarinelli, reflecting the regional and dialectal differences within Italy. Additionally, the name has been associated with various place names, such as Guarino Sanfrè, a small town in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guarino
Among Census respondents with the surname Guarino, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Guarino 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 Guarino surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.0% · 5,567
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 346
- Two or more races2.2% · 137
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 100
- Black or African American0.5% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Guarino
Guarino 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
#5,165
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,775
+143 bearers (+2.2%)
Per 100,000 2.30
Rank movement Down 308 places
2020
#5,443
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,187
-588 bearers (-8.7%)
Per 100,000 2.07
Rank movement Down 278 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,857 | 6,632 | 2.46 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,165 | 6,775 | 2.30 | +143 bearers (+2.2%) | Down 308 places |
| 2020 | #5,443 | 6,187 | 2.07 | -588 bearers (-8.7%) | Down 278 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 Guarino 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 | #5,165 | #5,443 | -5.4% |
| Count | 6,775 | 6,187 | -8.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.30 | 2.07 | -10.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Guarino bearers went from 6,775 to 6,187 (-8.7% change). The surname moved down 278 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,165 to #5,443.
FAQ
Guarino surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Guarino?
Name Census estimates that about 7,095 living Americans carry the surname Guarino. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 48,309 residents.
How common is Guarino?
Guarino ranks #5,443 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.07 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,187 people with the surname Guarino. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,095), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.07 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.07 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Guarino.
Has Guarino become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Guarino went from 6,775 recorded bearers to 6,187. That is a decrease of 588 (-8.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,165 to #5,443.
What does the Census say about the background of Guarino?
Among Census respondents with the surname Guarino, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Guarino in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (5,567 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Guarino appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.0%), Hispanic (5.6%), Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Guarino (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 Guarino mean?
Derived from an Italian personal name meaning "warrior" or "defender." 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 Guarino (2.07 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 last name Guarino?
For a quick modern take, check how many people are called Guarino on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.