2000
#5,319
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,032
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.24
Rare Last name
Perrone
An Italian occupational surname referring to the keeper of a wine cellar or a maker of round shields.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,517 Americans carry the last name Perrone. That puts it at #5,859 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.90 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 52,594 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Perrone 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
6.5K
1 in 52,594
Census rank
#5,859
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,683 bearers of the surname Perrone in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.90 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5859th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Perrone, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Perrone
The surname Perrone has its roots in Italy and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is believed to have originated from the Italian word "perro," which means "rock" or "stone." This suggests that the name may have been adopted by people who lived near rocky areas or worked as stonemasons.
In its earliest forms, the name appeared in various spellings, such as Perron, Perron, and Perroni, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. The name was particularly common in the regions of Piedmont, Liguria, and Lombardy in northern Italy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Perrone surname can be found in the 14th-century Florentine census records, where a family bearing the name is mentioned as residing in the city. Another notable historical reference is the presence of the Perrone name in the notarial records of Genoa, dating back to the 15th century.
Among the notable individuals who bore the Perrone surname, one can mention Giovanni Battista Perrone (1663-1727), an Italian painter known for his religious works, and Girolamo Perrone (1668-1733), an Italian architect who designed several notable churches and palaces in Genoa.
Another prominent figure was Niccolò Perrone (1824-1887), an Italian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Italian Parliament and played a crucial role in the unification of Italy during the Risorgimento movement.
In the 16th century, the Perrone family established themselves in the town of Montecorvino Pugliano, near Salerno in southern Italy. One of the most notable members of this branch was Antonio Perrone (1527-1597), a renowned jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge in the Sacro Regio Consiglio, the highest court of the Kingdom of Naples.
The Perrone surname also found its way to other parts of Europe, with notable individuals such as Juan Perrone (1518-1589), a Spanish soldier and explorer who participated in the conquest of the Americas, and François Perrone (1692-1768), a French architect who designed several prominent buildings in Paris.
Throughout its rich history, the Perrone surname has been associated with various professions, from artists and architects to lawyers, politicians, and explorers, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and contributions of those who bore this name.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Perrone
Among Census respondents with the surname Perrone, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Perrone 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 Perrone surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.9% · 5,108
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 352
- Two or more races2.2% · 127
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 48
- Black or African American0.7% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Perrone
Perrone 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
#5,463
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,368
+336 bearers (+5.6%)
Per 100,000 2.16
Rank movement Down 144 places
2020
#5,859
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,683
-685 bearers (-10.8%)
Per 100,000 1.90
Rank movement Down 396 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,319 | 6,032 | 2.24 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,463 | 6,368 | 2.16 | +336 bearers (+5.6%) | Down 144 places |
| 2020 | #5,859 | 5,683 | 1.90 | -685 bearers (-10.8%) | Down 396 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 Perrone 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 | #5,463 | #5,859 | -7.2% |
| Count | 6,368 | 5,683 | -10.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.16 | 1.90 | -12.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Perrone bearers went from 6,368 to 5,683 (-10.8% change). The surname moved down 396 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,463 to #5,859.
FAQ
Perrone surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Perrone?
Name Census estimates that about 6,517 living Americans carry the surname Perrone. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 52,594 residents.
How common is Perrone?
Perrone ranks #5,859 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.90 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,683 people with the surname Perrone. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,517), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.9 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.90 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Perrone.
Has Perrone become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Perrone went from 6,368 recorded bearers to 5,683. That is a decrease of 685 (-10.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,463 to #5,859.
What does the Census say about the background of Perrone?
Among Census respondents with the surname Perrone, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Perrone in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (5,108 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Perrone appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.9%), Hispanic (6.2%), Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Perrone (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 Perrone mean?
An Italian occupational surname referring to the keeper of a wine cellar or a maker of round shields. 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 Perrone (1.90 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 Perrone?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the last name Perrone on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.