2000
#14,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,817
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.67
Rare Last name
Piccirillo
Derived from the Italian word "piccirillo," meaning "very small," likely referring to a person of short stature.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,816 Americans carry the last name Piccirillo. That puts it at #17,438 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.53 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 188,741 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Piccirillo 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
1.8K
1 in 188,741
Census rank
#17,438
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,584 bearers of the surname Piccirillo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.53 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 17438th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Piccirillo, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Piccirillo
The surname Piccirillo has its origins in Italy, specifically in the southern regions of the country. It emerged during the Middle Ages, likely between the 11th and 13th centuries. The name is derived from the Italian word "piccirillo," which means "small" or "little one." This suggests that the name may have originally been a nickname or descriptive term for a person of small stature or a child.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Piccirillo can be traced back to archival documents from the 14th and 15th centuries in the regions of Campania, Basilicata, and Calabria. It's possible that the name was initially associated with specific locations or villages, as many Italian surnames originated from place names.
One notable historical reference to the name Piccirillo can be found in the 16th-century work "Cronaca della Regia Città di Rossano" (Chronicle of the Royal City of Rossano) by Scipione Saccano, which mentions a family bearing this surname residing in the town of Rossano, Calabria.
Among the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Piccirillo is Giacomo Piccirillo, a prominent jurist and legal scholar who lived in Naples during the 15th century. Another notable figure was Francesco Piccirillo, a renowned painter from Calabria who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In the 18th century, Giuseppe Piccirillo (1733-1808) was a respected philosopher and theologian from the town of Bisaccia, in the province of Avellino, Campania. He authored several works on moral theology and philosophy.
Moving into the 19th century, Vincenzo Piccirillo (1822-1892) was a prominent Italian journalist and political activist from Naples. He was involved in the Risorgimento movement and advocated for the unification of Italy.
Lastly, Michele Piccirillo (1944-2008) was a renowned Italian archaeologist and scholar of Christian and Byzantine art. He conducted extensive excavations and research in the Middle East, particularly in Jordan, and made significant contributions to the understanding of early Christian and Byzantine architecture and artifacts in the region.
While the surname Piccirillo is relatively uncommon, it has a rich history rooted in the southern regions of Italy, with various historical figures bearing this name contributing to various fields, including law, art, philosophy, journalism, and archaeology.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Piccirillo
Among Census respondents with the surname Piccirillo, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Piccirillo 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 Piccirillo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.1% · 1,411
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 120
- Two or more races2.1% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 12
- Black or African American0.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Piccirillo
Piccirillo 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
#14,458
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,066
+249 bearers (+13.7%)
Per 100,000 0.70
Rank movement Up 477 places
2020
#17,438
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,584
-482 bearers (-23.3%)
Per 100,000 0.53
Rank movement Down 2,980 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,935 | 1,817 | 0.67 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,458 | 2,066 | 0.70 | +249 bearers (+13.7%) | Up 477 places |
| 2020 | #17,438 | 1,584 | 0.53 | -482 bearers (-23.3%) | Down 2,980 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 Piccirillo 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 | #14,458 | #17,438 | -20.6% |
| Count | 2,066 | 1,584 | -23.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.70 | 0.53 | -24.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Piccirillo bearers went from 2,066 to 1,584 (-23.3% change). The surname moved down 2,980 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,458 to #17,438.
FAQ
Piccirillo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Piccirillo?
Name Census estimates that about 1,816 living Americans carry the surname Piccirillo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 188,741 residents.
How common is Piccirillo?
Piccirillo ranks #17,438 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.53 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,584 people with the surname Piccirillo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,816), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.53 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.53 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Piccirillo.
Has Piccirillo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Piccirillo went from 2,066 recorded bearers to 1,584. That is a decrease of 482 (-23.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,458 to #17,438.
What does the Census say about the background of Piccirillo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Piccirillo, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Piccirillo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (1,411 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Piccirillo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.1%), Hispanic (7.6%), Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Piccirillo (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 Piccirillo mean?
Derived from the Italian word "piccirillo," meaning "very small," likely referring to a person of short stature. 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 Piccirillo (0.53 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 many people have the surname Piccirillo?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.