2000
#15,796
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,693
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.63
Rare Last name
Laviolette
A French occupational surname referring to a player or maker of the viol, a stringed musical instrument.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,131 Americans carry the last name Laviolette. That puts it at #15,213 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 160,842 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Laviolette 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
2.1K
1 in 160,842
Census rank
#15,213
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,858 bearers of the surname Laviolette in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15213th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Laviolette, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Hispanic (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Laviolette
The surname LAVIOLETTE originated in France, with its origins dating back to the medieval period. It is a locational name derived from the French place name "La Violette," which means "the violet" in English. This place name likely referred to an area where violets grew in abundance or had some association with the violet flower.
The earliest recorded instances of the LAVIOLETTE surname can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of France, including Normandy, Brittany, and the Île-de-France region. Some variations of the spelling included LaViolette, Laviolet, and Laviolet.
In the 14th century, the LAVIOLETTE name appeared in several historical records and documents, such as tax rolls and property deeds. One notable mention was in the "Livre des Bourgeois de la ville de Rouen" (Book of the Bourgeois of the City of Rouen), which listed several families with the LAVIOLETTE surname residing in the city of Rouen, Normandy.
One of the earliest known bearers of the LAVIOLETTE name was Jean LAVIOLETTE, a merchant who lived in Paris in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Pierre LAVIOLETTE, a French soldier and explorer who accompanied Jacques Cartier on his voyages to North America in the 16th century.
In the 17th century, a branch of the LAVIOLETTE family emigrated to New France (present-day Quebec, Canada), where they settled in the region of Trois-Rivières. One of the first recorded members of this family in Canada was Pierre LAVIOLETTE, born in 1642, who married Marie Boucher in 1666.
Other notable individuals with the LAVIOLETTE surname throughout history include:
1. François LAVIOLETTE (1615-1679), a French Jesuit missionary and explorer who traveled to New France and worked among the Huron and Iroquois peoples.
2. Michel LAVIOLETTE (1785-1867), a French-Canadian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.
3. Émile LAVIOLETTE (1890-1950), a French-Canadian composer and musician known for his contributions to traditional Québécois folk music.
4. Dominique LAVIOLETTE (born 1937), a French-Canadian author and journalist who wrote several novels and plays.
5. Peter LAVIOLETTE (born 1964), a former professional ice hockey player and current head coach of the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laviolette
Among Census respondents with the surname Laviolette, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Hispanic (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Laviolette 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 Laviolette surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.6% · 1,571
- Black or African American5.9% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 84
- Two or more races3.8% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Laviolette
Laviolette 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
#15,033
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,965
+272 bearers (+16.1%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Up 763 places
2020
#15,213
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,858
-107 bearers (-5.4%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 180 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,796 | 1,693 | 0.63 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,033 | 1,965 | 0.67 | +272 bearers (+16.1%) | Up 763 places |
| 2020 | #15,213 | 1,858 | 0.62 | -107 bearers (-5.4%) | Down 180 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 Laviolette 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 | #15,033 | #15,213 | -1.2% |
| Count | 1,965 | 1,858 | -5.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.67 | 0.62 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Laviolette bearers went from 1,965 to 1,858 (-5.4% change). The surname moved down 180 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,033 to #15,213.
FAQ
Laviolette surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Laviolette?
Name Census estimates that about 2,131 living Americans carry the surname Laviolette. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 160,842 residents.
How common is Laviolette?
Laviolette ranks #15,213 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 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 1,858 people with the surname Laviolette. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,131), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 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 Laviolette.
Has Laviolette become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Laviolette went from 1,965 recorded bearers to 1,858. That is a decrease of 107 (-5.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,033 to #15,213.
What does the Census say about the background of Laviolette?
Among Census respondents with the surname Laviolette, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Laviolette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (1,571 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Laviolette appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.6%), Black (5.9%), Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Laviolette (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 Laviolette mean?
A French occupational surname referring to a player or maker of the viol, a stringed musical instrument. 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 Laviolette (0.62 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 common is the surname Laviolette?
Find out how many people are called Laviolette on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.