2010
#138,304
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Merito
A surname derived from the Italian word "merito" meaning merit or deserving.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Merito. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Merito 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Merito in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Merito, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 82.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.3%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Merito
The surname Merito has its origins in Italy, where it first emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Italian word "merito," which means merit or deserving. This suggests that the name may have been given to individuals who were held in high esteem or had achieved notable accomplishments.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Merito can be found in the historical records of the city of Florence, where a merchant named Giovanni Merito was mentioned in a document dated 1382. This document detailed a trade transaction involving the export of Florentine textiles to other regions of Italy and beyond.
Another early reference to the name appears in a legal document from the city of Siena, dated 1427. In this document, a landowner named Matteo Merito was involved in a dispute over property boundaries with a neighboring landowner.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Merito was Alessandro Merito, a humanist scholar and poet who lived in Venice from 1510 to 1582. He was known for his works celebrating the city's rich cultural heritage and was a member of the prestigious Accademia Veneziana.
The surname Merito also has ties to the region of Campania, where a family of that name held a prominent position in the town of Sorrento during the 17th century. One member, Francesco Merito (1625-1694), was a respected jurist and served as a magistrate in the local court system.
In the 18th century, a military officer named Carlo Merito (1738-1812) gained recognition for his service during the Napoleonic Wars. He rose through the ranks of the French army and was awarded the Legion of Honor for his bravery on the battlefield.
As the surname Merito spread beyond its Italian origins, it also found its way to other parts of Europe and the Americas. In Spain, a notable figure was the writer and philosopher Miguel Merito (1879-1945), who was influential in the development of modern Spanish literature.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merito
Among Census respondents with the surname Merito, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 82.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.3%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Merito 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 Merito surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino82.6% · 95
- White11.3% · 13
- Two or more races5.2% · 6
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Merito
Merito 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
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-6 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,453 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #138,304 | 121 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 7,453 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 Merito 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 | #138,304 | #145,757 | -5.4% |
| Count | 121 | 115 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Merito bearers went from 121 to 115 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 7,453 positions in the national ranking, going from #138,304 to #145,757.
FAQ
Merito surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Merito?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Merito. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Merito?
Merito ranks #145,757 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 115 people with the surname Merito. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Merito.
Has Merito become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Merito went from 121 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 6 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #138,304 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Merito?
Among Census respondents with the surname Merito, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 82.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.3%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Merito in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.6% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Merito appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (82.6%), White (11.3%), Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Merito (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 Merito mean?
A surname derived from the Italian word "merito" meaning merit or deserving. 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 Merito (0.04 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 Americans have the surname Merito?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.