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

Paola, 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 Paola surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Paola in America

Paola is the 40313th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Paola surname appeared 543 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 Paola.

We can also compare 2010 data for Paola 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 Paola

The surname PAOLA has its origins in Italy, where it first emerged during the early medieval period, around the 8th to 10th centuries. It is derived from the Latin name Paulus, which itself stems from the Roman family name Paulius. The name Paulius is believed to have originated from the word "paulus," meaning "small" or "humble" in Latin.

The earliest recorded instances of the PAOLA surname can be found in various historical documents and records from southern Italy, particularly in the regions of Campania, Calabria, and Sicily. It is likely that the name was initially adopted by families or individuals who had some connection to the apostle St. Paul or were born on his feast day.

One of the earliest known mentions of the PAOLA surname appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Cavensis, a collection of medieval documents from the Benedictine Abbey of Cava de' Tirreni in Campania, dating back to the 11th century. This suggests that the name had already established itself in the area by that time.

In the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the PAOLA surname was Giacomo da Paola, also known as Giacomo Piccolomini, who served as the Archbishop of Palermo from 1275 to 1301. Records from this period also indicate the presence of the PAOLA family in the town of Paola, located in the province of Cosenza, Calabria.

During the Renaissance period, the PAOLA surname gained further prominence with individuals such as Francesco Paola (1416-1507), an Italian painter and architect from Naples, and Sebastiano Paola (1503-1562), a renowned sculptor and architect from Messina, Sicily.

Other notable individuals with the PAOLA surname include Pietro Paola (1610-1688), an Italian mathematician and astronomer from Pisa, and Giuseppe Paola (1739-1819), an Italian composer and music theorist from Naples.

It is worth noting that variations in the spelling of the PAOLA surname have been observed throughout history, including Paoli, Paoli, and Paulis, among others. Additionally, the name has been associated with several place names in Italy, such as Paola in Calabria, and Paola in the province of Cosenza.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Paola

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

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

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

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