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

Paleo, 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 Paleo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Paleo in America

Paleo is the 75069th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Paleo surname appeared 257 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Paleo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Paleo 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 Paleo

The surname Paleo is of Italian origin, specifically from the Piedmont region in the northwest of the country. It dates back to the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century. The name is believed to derive from the Latin word "palus," which means "marsh" or "swamp," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name likely lived near or in a marshy area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Paleo surname can be found in a document from the town of Cuneo, Piedmont, dated 1284, which mentions a certain Guglielmo Paleo. This indicates that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.

In the 15th century, the Paleo family became prominent in the city of Asti, also in Piedmont. Records from that period mention several notable individuals bearing this surname, such as Bartolomeo Paleo, a respected lawyer and judge who lived from 1420 to 1495.

Another significant figure in the history of the Paleo name was Giovanni Battista Paleo, a renowned architect and military engineer who lived from 1508 to 1592. He was responsible for the design and construction of several fortifications and buildings in the Piedmont region during the Renaissance period.

During the 17th century, the Paleo surname spread beyond the borders of Piedmont, with some members of the family settling in other parts of Italy, as well as in neighboring countries. One example is Francesco Paleo, a merchant and trader who was born in Asti in 1620 but later moved to Lyon, France, where he established a successful business.

In the 19th century, a notable bearer of the Paleo surname was Cesare Paleo, an Italian painter and sculptor who was born in Turin in 1835 and gained recognition for his works depicting historical and religious themes.

Over the centuries, the Paleo surname has also been associated with various place names and locations in Piedmont, such as the town of Paleo near Cuneo, which likely derived its name from the same Latin root as the surname. Additionally, there are records of alternative spellings like Paleologo and Paleotti, which may have been variations of the original Paleo name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Paleo

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!