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

Pepe, 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 Pepe surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pepe in America

Pepe is the 6313th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pepe surname appeared 5,405 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Pepe.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pepe 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 Pepe

The surname PEPE is of Spanish origin, with its roots tracing back to the late medieval period in the Iberian Peninsula. The name likely derived from the personal name "Pepe," a diminutive form of the name "José," which itself originated from the Hebrew name "Joseph."

In its earliest forms, the surname PEPE was often spelled as "Pepes" or "Pepeš," reflecting the influence of the Castilian Spanish dialect in which it emerged. As the name spread across the Spanish-speaking world, various regional variations in spelling and pronunciation arose, including "Peppe" in some parts of Southern Italy.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the PEPE surname can be found in the Catalan region of Spain, where a certain "Pere Pepe" was documented in a land registry from the town of Girona, dated to the late 13th century. This suggests that the name had already gained prominence in parts of northeastern Spain by that time.

During the age of Spanish exploration and colonization in the 15th and 16th centuries, the PEPE surname likely traveled to the Americas and other Spanish territories, carried by settlers and adventurers from the Iberian homeland. Notable individuals bearing this name from this era include Juan Pepe de Escalante, a Spanish explorer who led expeditions to the Gulf of Mexico in the 1570s.

In the realm of literature, the PEPE surname made an appearance in the works of the celebrated Spanish playwright and poet, Lope de Vega (1562-1635), who included characters with this name in several of his plays and verse compositions.

Moving forward to the 18th century, the PEPE name can be traced to the life of José Pepe de Quintana (1712-1784), a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Panama from 1771 to 1777.

In the 19th century, the PEPE surname gained further prominence with the birth of Gustavo Adolfo Pepe (1865-1923), a renowned Uruguayan painter and sculptor known for his contributions to the modernist art movement in South America.

As the 20th century dawned, the PEPE name continued to be associated with notable figures across various fields, such as Antonio Pepe (1897-1976), an Italian composer and conductor renowned for his operatic works, and Toni Pepe (1909-1991), an Italian footballer who played as a defender for several prestigious clubs in Italy and France.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pepe

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

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

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

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