2000
#149,328
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 101
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Papula
A surname derived from Latin "papula" meaning a small pimple or swelling.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Papula. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Papula 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Papula in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Papula, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Papula
The surname "PAPULA" is of Italian origin, first appearing in records from the late 15th century in the region of Tuscany. The name is derived from the Latin word "papula," meaning "a small pimple or swelling." This suggests that the name may have originally been given as a nickname to someone with a distinctive mark or blemish on their skin.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a document from 1492 in the town of Siena, where a certain Giovanni Papula is mentioned as a landowner. Another early reference is in a church record from 1517 in Florence, which lists the baptism of a child named Matteo Papula.
In the 16th century, the name appears to have spread to other parts of Italy, including the Veneto region. A notable figure from this time was Girolamo Papula (1524-1591), a philosopher and scholar from Padua who wrote extensively on the works of Aristotle.
During the 17th century, the Papula name is found in various regions of Italy, such as Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. One prominent individual was Francesco Papula (1618-1679), a painter from Bologna who specialized in religious works and frescoes for churches.
The 18th century saw the Papula name spread further across Europe, with records indicating families bearing this surname in France and Germany. In 1723, a French merchant named Jean-Baptiste Papula is mentioned in trade documents from Marseille. Later, in 1786, a German scholar named Johann Papula published a book on the history of the Holy Roman Empire.
As the name continued to disperse throughout the 19th century, it gained recognition in other parts of the world. In 1842, a physician named Antonio Papula emigrated from Italy to Argentina, where he established a successful medical practice in Buenos Aires. Another notable figure was the Italian explorer and naturalist Stefano Papula (1857-1932), who led several expeditions to the Amazon rainforest and contributed to the study of its flora and fauna.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Papula
Among Census respondents with the surname Papula, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Papula 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 Papula surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.1% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Papula
Papula appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#147,253
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
+11 bearers (+10.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,075 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-9 bearers (-8.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 6,929 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #149,328 | 101 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #147,253 | 112 | 0.04 | +11 bearers (+10.9%) | Up 2,075 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -9 bearers (-8.0%) | Down 6,929 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 Papula 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 | #147,253 | #154,182 | -4.7% |
| Count | 112 | 103 | -8.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Papula bearers went from 112 to 103 (-8.0% change). The surname moved down 6,929 positions in the national ranking, going from #147,253 to #154,182.
FAQ
Papula surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Papula?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Papula. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Papula?
Papula ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 103 people with the surname Papula. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Papula.
Has Papula become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Papula went from 112 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 9 (-8.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #147,253 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Papula?
Among Census respondents with the surname Papula, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Papula in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.1% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Papula appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.1%), Hispanic (1.0%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Papula (2000, 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 Papula mean?
A surname derived from Latin "papula" meaning a small pimple or swelling. 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 Papula (0.03 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 Papula?
Want to know how many people are called Papula? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.