2000
#5,107
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,302
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.34
Rare Last name
Guido
An Italian occupational surname referring to someone who guides or leads others, such as a military leader.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,704 Americans carry the last name Guido. That puts it at #5,057 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.25 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 44,490 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Guido 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
7.7K
1 in 44,490
Census rank
#5,057
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,718 bearers of the surname Guido in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.25 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5057th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Guido, the largest self-reported group is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.3%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Guido
The surname Guido is of Italian origin, deriving from the given name Guido. This name can be traced back to the Germanic words "widu" meaning "wood" and "wit" meaning "wide," implying someone who lived near a vast forest or woodland area.
The earliest recorded use of the name Guido dates back to the 10th century in Italy. It was particularly common in the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, and Emilia-Romagna, where it appeared in various medieval documents and records. Some notable early bearers of the name include Guido d'Arezzo (995-1050), a renowned Italian music theorist and Benedictine monk, and Guido Cavalcanti (c.1255-1300), an Italian philosopher and poet closely associated with Dante Alighieri.
In the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, there are no recorded instances of the surname Guido, likely due to its Italian origins. However, the name gained prominence in Italy during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Guido can be found in the 13th century, with Guido da Montefeltro (1223-1298), an Italian nobleman and military leader who served as the Lord of Urbino. Another notable bearer of the surname was Guido Reni (1575-1642), a celebrated Italian painter of the Baroque period, known for his religious works and mythological scenes.
During the Renaissance, the name Guido also appeared in the form of Vido, as seen in the case of Vido Vidov (c.1490-1568), a Croatian-born humanist and philosopher who lived and worked in Italy.
Other notable individuals with the surname Guido include Guido Gozzano (1883-1916), an Italian poet and writer associated with the Crepuscolari movement, and Guido Cantelli (1920-1956), an Italian conductor and musical director who tragically died in an airplane crash at the height of his career.
These examples illustrate the rich history and prominence of the surname Guido, particularly in Italy, where it has been carried by influential figures in various fields, including art, literature, philosophy, and music, over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guido
Among Census respondents with the surname Guido, the largest self-reported group is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.3%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Guido 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 Guido surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.5% · 3,996
- Hispanic or Latino36.3% · 2,439
- Two or more races1.7% · 111
- Black or African American1.2% · 83
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 75
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Guido
Guido 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
#4,971
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,068
+766 bearers (+12.2%)
Per 100,000 2.40
Rank movement Up 136 places
2020
#5,057
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,718
-350 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 2.25
Rank movement Down 86 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,107 | 6,302 | 2.34 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,971 | 7,068 | 2.40 | +766 bearers (+12.2%) | Up 136 places |
| 2020 | #5,057 | 6,718 | 2.25 | -350 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 86 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 Guido 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 | #4,971 | #5,057 | -1.7% |
| Count | 7,068 | 6,718 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 2.40 | 2.25 | -6.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Guido bearers went from 7,068 to 6,718 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 86 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,971 to #5,057.
FAQ
Guido surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Guido?
Name Census estimates that about 7,704 living Americans carry the surname Guido. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 44,490 residents.
How common is Guido?
Guido ranks #5,057 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.25 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 6,718 people with the surname Guido. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,704), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.25 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.25 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 Guido.
Has Guido become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Guido went from 7,068 recorded bearers to 6,718. That is a decrease of 350 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,971 to #5,057.
What does the Census say about the background of Guido?
Among Census respondents with the surname Guido, the largest self-reported group is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.3%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Guido in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.5% (3,996 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Guido appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (59.5%), Hispanic (36.3%), Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Guido (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 Guido mean?
An Italian occupational surname referring to someone who guides or leads others, such as a military leader. 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 Guido (2.25 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 Guido?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.