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

Moretti, 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 Moretti surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Moretti in America

Moretti is the 8529th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Moretti surname appeared 3,858 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 Moretti.

We can also compare 2010 data for Moretti 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 Moretti

The surname Moretti originated in Italy and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Italian word "moro," which means dark or swarthy, referring to someone with a dark complexion or hair. The name is likely of occupational origin, indicating a person who worked as a moor or Muslim servant.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval Italian records and manuscripts from regions like Tuscany, Lombardy, and Emilia-Romagna. The name appeared in various spellings, such as Moreto, Moretta, and Moretto, reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions.

One notable historical reference to the name Moretti can be found in the "Codice Diplomatico Longobardo," a collection of Lombard diplomatic documents from the 8th to the 12th centuries. This source mentions individuals with the surname Moretti or variations thereof, suggesting the name's prevalence in northern Italy during the Middle Ages.

Among the notable individuals who bore the surname Moretti throughout history are:

1. Pietro Moretti (1532-1592), an Italian Renaissance architect and sculptor from Bergamo, known for his work on the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.

2. Gaspare Moretti (1619-1679), an Italian painter and engraver from Perugia, renowned for his paintings of religious subjects and landscapes.

3. Ferdinando Moretti (1784-1837), an Italian composer and music theorist from Bologna, who composed operas and wrote influential treatises on music theory.

4. Giacomo Moretti (1822-1888), an Italian archaeologist and historian from Riva del Garda, known for his excavations and studies of ancient Roman sites in Italy.

5. Costantino Moretti (1899-1985), an Italian architect and urban planner from Rome, who designed several notable public buildings and urban development projects in the city during the mid-20th century.

The surname Moretti has also been associated with various place names throughout Italy, such as Moretta in Piedmont, Moretto in Lombardy, and Moretti in Tuscany, reflecting the geographical spread and local variations of the name over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Moretti

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

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

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

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