2000
#2,731
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,122
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.49
Uncommon Last name
Longo
An Italian occupational surname referring to a tall or long-limbed person.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 13,719 Americans carry the last name Longo. That puts it at #2,943 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.00 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 24,984 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Longo 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Longo with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
14K
1 in 24,984
Census rank
#2,943
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
12K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 11,964 bearers of the surname Longo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.00 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2943rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Longo, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Longo
The surname Longo is of Italian origin and derives from the Italian word "lungo," meaning "long" or "tall." It was likely initially used as a descriptive nickname for someone with a tall stature.
The name Longo can be traced back to the Middle Ages, with records showing its use in various parts of Italy, particularly in the regions of Lombardy, Veneto, and Sicily. It is believed to have first emerged as a surname in the 12th or 13th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Longo appears in the "Codice Diplomatico Longobardo," a collection of documents from the Lombard period, where it is mentioned in a land transaction in Verona, dated 1179.
In the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the name Longo was Enrico Longo, a Venetian merchant and diplomat active in the mid-1200s. He is mentioned in historical records as representing the Republic of Venice in trade negotiations with other Italian city-states.
Another prominent individual with the surname Longo was Giovanni Battista Longo, a 16th-century Italian painter and architect from Naples. He was renowned for his work on churches and palaces in Naples and surrounding areas, including the Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia.
During the Renaissance period, the Longo family played a significant role in the cultural and intellectual life of Italy. One notable member was Alessandro Longo, a 16th-century humanist scholar and philosopher from Padua, born in 1525 and died in 1591.
In the 18th century, Giuseppe Longo, an Italian mathematician and astronomer from Naples, gained recognition for his contributions to the field of celestial mechanics. He was born in 1728 and died in 1804.
Another notable figure with the surname Longo was Gennaro Longo, an Italian painter and sculptor from Naples, active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is known for his works adorning various churches and public buildings in Naples and its surroundings.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Longo
Among Census respondents with the surname Longo, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Longo 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 Longo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 10,810
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 694
- Two or more races2.0% · 239
- Black or African American1.0% · 117
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Longo
Longo 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
#2,864
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,594
+472 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 4.27
Rank movement Down 133 places
2020
#2,943
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,964
-630 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 4.00
Rank movement Down 79 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,731 | 12,122 | 4.49 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,864 | 12,594 | 4.27 | +472 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 133 places |
| 2020 | #2,943 | 11,964 | 4.00 | -630 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 79 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 Longo 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 | #2,864 | #2,943 | -2.8% |
| Count | 12,594 | 11,964 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 4.27 | 4.00 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Longo bearers went from 12,594 to 11,964 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 79 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,864 to #2,943.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Longo
FAQ
Longo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Longo?
Name Census estimates that about 13,719 living Americans carry the surname Longo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 24,984 residents.
How common is Longo?
Longo ranks #2,943 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.00 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 11,964 people with the surname Longo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (13,719), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.00 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Longo.
Has Longo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Longo went from 12,594 recorded bearers to 11,964. That is a decrease of 630 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,864 to #2,943.
What does the Census say about the background of Longo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Longo, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Longo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (10,810 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Longo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Hispanic (5.8%), Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Longo (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 Longo mean?
An Italian occupational surname referring to a tall or long-limbed person. 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 Longo (4.00 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 are called Longo?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Longo at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.