2000
#134,929
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Picolo
An occupational surname derived from the Italian word for "small" or "little", often referring to someone of small stature.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Picolo. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Picolo 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Picolo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Picolo, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Picolo
The surname PICOLO is of Italian origin, derived from the word "piccolo," meaning "small" or "little." It is believed to have originated in the 14th century as a descriptive nickname for someone of small stature or a younger sibling.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name PICOLO can be found in the Florentine Militia Rolls of 1412, which listed a certain Guido Picolo among the enlisted soldiers. This suggests that the name was already in use and established in the region of Tuscany during the early Renaissance period.
In the 16th century, the PICOLO name appears in various Italian documents, including the baptismal records of the city of Genoa. An entry from 1534 mentions a Giovanni Battista Picolo, son of Antonio Picolo and Maria Rossi.
The name also has ties to the northern Italian city of Verona, where a noble family bearing the name PICOLO is recorded in the 17th century. One notable member was Girolamo Picolo (1608-1678), a respected jurist and legal scholar who authored several influential treatises on civil law.
As Italian emigrants began to settle in other parts of Europe and the Americas, the surname PICOLO traveled with them. In the late 19th century, a carpenter named Luigi Picolo (1845-1922) from the Veneto region immigrated to Argentina, where he established a successful woodworking business in Buenos Aires.
Another prominent figure was the Italian-American singer and actor Mario Picolo (1908-1997), who gained fame on the vaudeville circuit and later appeared in several Broadway musicals and Hollywood films during the Golden Age of cinema.
While the name PICOLO is not as widespread as some other Italian surnames, it has left its mark on history through various individuals and families, reflecting its humble origins as a descriptive nickname for someone of small stature.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Picolo
Among Census respondents with the surname Picolo, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Picolo 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 Picolo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.1% · 106
- Two or more races5.9% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 4
- Black or African American0.8% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Picolo
Picolo 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
#135,593
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 124
+9 bearers (+7.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 664 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-5 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,195 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #134,929 | 115 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #135,593 | 124 | 0.04 | +9 bearers (+7.8%) | Down 664 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 7,195 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 Picolo 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 | #135,593 | #142,788 | -5.3% |
| Count | 124 | 119 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Picolo bearers went from 124 to 119 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 7,195 positions in the national ranking, going from #135,593 to #142,788.
FAQ
Picolo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Picolo?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Picolo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Picolo?
Picolo ranks #142,788 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 119 people with the surname Picolo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Picolo.
Has Picolo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Picolo went from 124 recorded bearers to 119. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #135,593 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Picolo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Picolo, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Picolo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Picolo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.1%), Two or More Races (5.9%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Picolo (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 Picolo mean?
An occupational surname derived from the Italian word for "small" or "little", often referring to someone of small 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 Picolo (0.04 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 Americans have the surname Picolo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.