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

Latour, 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 Latour surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Latour in America

Latour is the 9754th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Latour surname appeared 3,323 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Latour.

We can also compare 2010 data for Latour 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 Latour

The surname Latour has its origins in France, dating back to the medieval period around the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French words "la" meaning "the" and "tour" meaning "tower" or "fortified house." As such, the name likely originated as a descriptive surname for someone who lived near or worked at a tower or fortified structure.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Latour can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in England from the year 1191, where a person named Stephanus de la Ture is mentioned. This early spelling variation suggests that the name may have been brought to England by Norman settlers following the Norman Conquest in 1066.

The Latour name also appears in several French records from the 13th and 14th centuries, such as the Cartulaires de l'abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres in 1280, which mentions a Guillaume de la Tour. Additionally, the name is found in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Victor de Marseille from 1350, referring to a Pierre de la Tour.

During the Renaissance period, a notable figure bearing the Latour surname was Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788), a celebrated French Rococo portraitist who became a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1746.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné (1552-1630), a French Protestant soldier, poet, and historian who fought in the Wars of Religion. His mother's maiden name was Latour.

In the 19th century, a famous French painter named Georges de La Tour (1593-1652) gained recognition for his naturalistic style and innovative use of chiaroscuro lighting techniques, particularly in his religious and genre paintings.

Across the Atlantic, one of the earliest recorded instances of the Latour name in North America can be found in the 1666 census of Acadian settlers in Canada, which lists a Jacques Latour.

These examples illustrate the widespread presence of the Latour surname throughout various regions and historical periods, reflecting its French origins and connection to fortified structures or towers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Latour

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

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 Latour 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 Latour 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 Latour was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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