Find out how popular the last name Jolles is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Jolles.

Jolles, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Jolles surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jolles in America

Jolles is the 101737th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jolles surname appeared 177 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Jolles.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jolles to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Jolles

The surname Jolles is of Catalan origin, with roots tracing back to the medieval Catalonia region of Spain and France in the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old Catalan word "joll," meaning "jewel" or "precious stone," possibly referring to an ancestor's occupation as a jeweler or gemstone dealer.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jolles can be found in the Llibre del Repartiment, a medieval census document from the Kingdom of Valencia in the 13th century. Here, it is spelled as "Jolles" and appears to refer to a family or individual residing in the region.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various municipal records and tax rolls in the city of Barcelona, suggesting a presence of Jolles families in the urban centers of Catalonia during that time period. Some variations in spelling, such as "Jollez" and "Jollés," were also noted in these historical documents.

Throughout the centuries, the Jolles surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One such person was Francesc Jolles, a prominent Catalan painter born in 1525 who gained recognition for his religious artworks commissioned by churches and monasteries across the region.

Another notable figure was Joan Jolles, a 16th-century scholar and author from Barcelona, whose treatise on the history and culture of Catalonia, "Històries i Costums de Catalunya," became an influential work in preserving the region's heritage.

In the 18th century, the Jolles name gained further prominence with the birth of Josep Jolles (1738-1816), a highly regarded Catalan architect known for his contributions to the Neoclassical architectural style in Barcelona and other cities in the region.

As the Jolles family dispersed throughout Spain and beyond, the surname also found its way into other parts of Europe. For instance, in the 19th century, André Jolles (1874-1946), a prominent Dutch literary theorist and scholar, was born to a family of Catalan descent in Amsterdam.

Despite its Catalan roots, the Jolles surname has left its mark across various cultures and historical periods, a testament to the enduring legacy of this name originating from the medieval Catalonia region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jolles

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Jolles.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Jolles was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Jolles has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Jolles was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Jolles, please contact us.

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