2000
#11,200
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,595
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.96
Rare Last name
Lauria
A locational surname referring to someone from the town of Lauria in southern Italy.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,626 Americans carry the last name Lauria. That puts it at #12,843 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.77 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 130,523 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lauria 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
2.6K
1 in 130,523
Census rank
#12,843
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,290 bearers of the surname Lauria in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.77 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12843rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lauria, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.4%) and Two or More Races (1.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lauria
The surname Lauria is of Italian origin, specifically from the region of Calabria in southern Italy. It is believed to have originated in the medieval period, likely around the 12th or 13th century.
The name Lauria is thought to be derived from the Latin word "laurea," which means laurel or bay tree. This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with a person who lived near laurel trees or had some connection to this plant.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lauria can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Regni Siciliae, a collection of medieval documents from the Kingdom of Sicily, which includes present-day Calabria. This document mentions a nobleman named Ruggiero Lauria, who lived in the late 13th century and served as an admiral in the fleet of Peter III of Aragon.
In the 14th century, the name Lauria appears in a manuscript known as the Libro Rosso di Gerace, which contains records of various noble families in the town of Gerace, located in the province of Reggio Calabria. This document mentions several individuals with the surname Lauria, indicating that the name was well-established in the region by that time.
One notable figure in history with the surname Lauria was Benedetto Lauria, a 16th-century Italian jurist and legal scholar from Calabria. He was born in 1522 and is known for his work on the legal system of the Kingdom of Naples.
Another individual of note was Giovanni Battista Lauria, a 17th-century Italian painter from Calabria. He was born in 1639 and is known for his religious paintings, many of which can be found in churches throughout southern Italy.
In the 19th century, Giuseppe Lauria was an Italian politician and lawyer from Calabria. He was born in 1830 and served as a member of the Italian Parliament, representing the province of Reggio Calabria.
Vincenzo Lauria, born in 1852, was a Calabrian-born Italian philosopher and educator. He was known for his work on the philosophy of education and his contributions to the development of the Italian education system.
The surname Lauria has also been associated with various place names in Calabria, such as the town of Lauria in the province of Potenza, and the village of Lauria Inferiore in the province of Reggio Calabria. These place names likely derived from the surname itself or vice versa, reflecting the longstanding presence of the Lauria family in the region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lauria
Among Census respondents with the surname Lauria, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.4%) and Two or More Races (1.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Lauria 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 Lauria surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.9% · 2,059
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 147
- Two or more races1.2% · 28
- Black or African American1.2% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lauria
Lauria 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
#11,362
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,777
+182 bearers (+7.0%)
Per 100,000 0.94
Rank movement Down 162 places
2020
#12,843
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,290
-487 bearers (-17.5%)
Per 100,000 0.77
Rank movement Down 1,481 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,200 | 2,595 | 0.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,362 | 2,777 | 0.94 | +182 bearers (+7.0%) | Down 162 places |
| 2020 | #12,843 | 2,290 | 0.77 | -487 bearers (-17.5%) | Down 1,481 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 Lauria 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 | #11,362 | #12,843 | -13.0% |
| Count | 2,777 | 2,290 | -17.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.94 | 0.77 | -18.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lauria bearers went from 2,777 to 2,290 (-17.5% change). The surname moved down 1,481 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,362 to #12,843.
FAQ
Lauria surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lauria?
Name Census estimates that about 2,626 living Americans carry the surname Lauria. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 130,523 residents.
How common is Lauria?
Lauria ranks #12,843 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.77 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,290 people with the surname Lauria. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,626), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.77 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.77 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Lauria.
Has Lauria become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lauria went from 2,777 recorded bearers to 2,290. That is a decrease of 487 (-17.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,362 to #12,843.
What does the Census say about the background of Lauria?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lauria, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.4%) and Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Lauria in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (2,059 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lauria appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.9%), Hispanic (6.4%), Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Lauria (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 Lauria mean?
A locational surname referring to someone from the town of Lauria in southern Italy. 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 Lauria (0.77 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 surname Lauria?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.