2010
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Lafo
An anglicized form of the Spanish surname "Lafon".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 116 Americans carry the last name Lafo. That puts it at #155,270 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,954,779 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lafo 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
116
1 in 2,954,779
Census rank
#155,270
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
101
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 101 bearers of the surname Lafo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 155270th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lafo, the largest self-reported group is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.7%) and Hispanic (7.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lafo
The surname LAFO is believed to have originated from the northern regions of Spain during the medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the Old Spanish word "lafio," which referred to a small, secluded valley or ravine. This suggests that the name's earliest bearers likely resided in or near such a geographic feature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the LAFO surname can be found in the Becerro de las Behetrías de Castilla, a 14th-century census of landowners and their properties in the Kingdom of Castile. The document mentions a certain Pedro Lafo, who held lands in the region of Cantabria.
In the 16th century, the LAFO name appears in several municipal records from the town of Laredo, located in the modern-day autonomous community of Cantabria. Notable individuals from this era include Juan Lafo de Salazar (c. 1520 - 1598), a merchant and shipowner who participated in the lucrative transatlantic trade between Spain and the Americas.
The LAFO surname also has a presence in other parts of Spain, such as Catalonia and Andalusia, where it may have evolved from similar-sounding place names or regional variations. For instance, in the 17th century, there was a Francisco Lafo y Guevara (1612 - 1685), a nobleman and military officer from Seville.
As Spanish explorers and colonists journeyed to the New World, the LAFO name found its way to various regions of Latin America. One notable figure was Alonso Lafo de Vega (1592 - 1661), a conquistador who participated in the conquest of Chile and later served as the governor of the province of Cuyo (now part of Argentina) from 1635 to 1640.
In more recent centuries, individuals bearing the LAFO surname have contributed to various fields, such as literature, art, and politics. One example is Enrique Lafo (1835 - 1911), a Cuban poet and journalist who was part of the literary movement known as Modernismo.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lafo
Among Census respondents with the surname Lafo, the largest self-reported group is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.7%) and Hispanic (7.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Lafo 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 Lafo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander32.7% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 8
- Two or more races4.0% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lafo
Lafo appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#155,270
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 101
-7 bearers (-6.5%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 3,738 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #155,270 | 101 | 0.03 | -7 bearers (-6.5%) | Down 3,738 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 Lafo 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 | #151,532 | #155,270 | -2.5% |
| Count | 108 | 101 | -6.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -15.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lafo bearers went from 108 to 101 (-6.5% change). The surname moved down 3,738 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #155,270.
FAQ
Lafo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lafo?
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the surname Lafo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,954,779 residents.
How common is Lafo?
Lafo ranks #155,270 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 101 people with the surname Lafo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (116), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Lafo.
Has Lafo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lafo went from 108 recorded bearers to 101. That is a decrease of 7 (-6.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #155,270.
What does the Census say about the background of Lafo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lafo, the largest self-reported group is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.7%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Lafo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (56 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lafo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (55.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (32.7%), Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Lafo (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 Lafo mean?
An anglicized form of the Spanish surname "Lafon". 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 Lafo (0.03 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 Lafo?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.