2010
#154,907
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Mourelatos
A surname derived from the Greek word "mourelatos", meaning someone who cares for or guards mulberry trees.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Mourelatos. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mourelatos 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
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Mourelatos in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mourelatos, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mourelatos
The surname Mourelatos is of Greek origin, tracing its roots back to the Byzantine Empire. It is derived from the Greek words "mouros" meaning dark or swarthy, and "latos" meaning servant or laborer. This suggests that the original bearers of this surname were likely individuals with a darker complexion who worked as servants or laborers.
One of the earliest documented references to the name Mourelatos can be found in a medieval manuscript from the 14th century, which mentions a certain Georgios Mourelatos, a servant in the household of a nobleman in the region of Thessaly. This indicates that the name was already in use during the late Byzantine period.
In the 16th century, records show a family by the name of Mourelatos residing in the village of Kastoria, located in the northern Greek region of Macedonia. It is believed that this family may have been descendants of refugees who fled from the Byzantine capital of Constantinople after its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
During the 18th century, the name Mourelatos appears in church records from the island of Crete, where a prominent individual named Ioannis Mourelatos served as a local magistrate and landowner. This suggests that by this time, the name had spread across various regions of the Greek world.
One notable figure bearing the surname Mourelatos was Petros Mourelatos, a Greek scholar and philosopher who lived from 1840 to 1912. He was a prominent figure in the intellectual circles of Athens and wrote extensively on topics related to ancient Greek philosophy and literature.
Another individual of note was Nikolaos Mourelatos, a Greek military officer who fought in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922. He was born in 1892 in the city of Chania on the island of Crete and served with distinction during the conflict, earning several military honors.
In the 20th century, the name Mourelatos gained recognition through the work of Alexander Mourelatos, a renowned Greek-American philosopher and professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He was born in 1932 and made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek philosophy, particularly in the areas of metaphysics and logic.
It is worth noting that variations in the spelling of the name Mourelatos can be found throughout historical records, such as Mourelatos, Mourelati, and Mourelatou, reflecting the linguistic and regional differences within the Greek-speaking world over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mourelatos
Among Census respondents with the surname Mourelatos, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Mourelatos 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 Mourelatos surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.3% · 101
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 2
- Two or more races1.9% · 2
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mourelatos
Mourelatos 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
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
+1 bearers (+1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,568 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #154,907 | 105 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+1.0%) | Up 2,568 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 Mourelatos 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 | #154,907 | #152,339 | 1.7% |
| Count | 105 | 106 | 1.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mourelatos bearers went from 105 to 106 (+1.0% change). The surname moved up 2,568 positions in the national ranking, going from #154,907 to #152,339.
FAQ
Mourelatos surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mourelatos?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Mourelatos. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Mourelatos?
Mourelatos ranks #152,339 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 106 people with the surname Mourelatos. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), 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 Mourelatos.
Has Mourelatos become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mourelatos went from 105 recorded bearers to 106. That is an increase of 1 (+1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #154,907 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Mourelatos?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mourelatos, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Mourelatos in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.3% (101 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mourelatos appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.3%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%), Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Mourelatos (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 Mourelatos mean?
A surname derived from the Greek word "mourelatos", meaning someone who cares for or guards mulberry trees. 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 Mourelatos (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 common is the surname Mourelatos?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Mourelatos, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.