2010
#154,907
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Pietropaoli
From an Italian place name referring to a peasant or farmer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 114 Americans carry the last name Pietropaoli. That puts it at #156,005 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,006,617 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pietropaoli 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
114
1 in 3,006,617
Census rank
#156,005
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
99
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 99 bearers of the surname Pietropaoli in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 156005th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pietropaoli, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.0%) and Black (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pietropaoli
The surname Pietropaoli is of Italian origin, with roots tracing back to the 14th century in the regions of Abruzzo and Lazio. It is believed to have derived from the combination of the Italian words "Pietro" and "Paolo," referring to the apostles Peter and Paul. This suggests that the name may have originated from a location dedicated to these two saints or from an individual with a strong devotion to them.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Pietropaoli can be found in the 15th-century archives of the town of Sulmona, located in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo. The name appears in a document dated 1472, which mentions a certain "Girolamo Pietropaoli" as a landowner in the area.
Another notable mention of the surname is found in the 16th-century cadastral records of the city of Rome, where a "Prospero Pietropaoli" is listed as a resident of the Trastevere district in 1586. This suggests that the name had spread to the Lazio region by that time.
In the late 17th century, a prominent figure bearing the name Pietropaoli was Ludovico Pietropaoli (1658-1721), a renowned architect and engineer from Sulmona. He was responsible for the design and construction of several churches and public buildings in his hometown and the surrounding areas.
During the 18th century, the name Pietropaoli gained further recognition with the birth of Giuseppe Pietropaoli (1727-1802), a celebrated painter and engraver from the town of Ascoli Piceno, in the Marche region. His works, mainly depicting religious themes, can still be found in various churches and art galleries across Italy.
In the 19th century, another notable figure was Vincenzo Pietropaoli (1814-1888), a lawyer and politician from Sulmona who served as a member of the Italian Parliament during the early years of the unified Kingdom of Italy.
As the name Pietropaoli spread across Italy over the centuries, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Petropaoli, Pietrapoli, and Petropoli, reflecting the regional dialects and local adaptations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pietropaoli
Among Census respondents with the surname Pietropaoli, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.0%) and Black (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Pietropaoli 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 Pietropaoli surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.0% · 96
- Two or more races2.0% · 2
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pietropaoli
Pietropaoli appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#156,005
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 99
-6 bearers (-5.7%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 1,098 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #154,907 | 105 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #156,005 | 99 | 0.03 | -6 bearers (-5.7%) | Down 1,098 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 Pietropaoli 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 | #154,907 | #156,005 | -0.7% |
| Count | 105 | 99 | -5.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -17.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pietropaoli bearers went from 105 to 99 (-5.7% change). The surname moved down 1,098 positions in the national ranking, going from #154,907 to #156,005.
FAQ
Pietropaoli surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pietropaoli?
Name Census estimates that about 114 living Americans carry the surname Pietropaoli. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,006,617 residents.
How common is Pietropaoli?
Pietropaoli ranks #156,005 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 99 people with the surname Pietropaoli. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (114), 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 Pietropaoli.
Has Pietropaoli become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pietropaoli went from 105 recorded bearers to 99. That is a decrease of 6 (-5.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #154,907 to #156,005.
What does the Census say about the background of Pietropaoli?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pietropaoli, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.0%) and Black (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 Pietropaoli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.0% (96 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pietropaoli appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.0%), Two or More Races (2.0%), Black (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 Pietropaoli (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 Pietropaoli mean?
From an Italian place name referring to a peasant or farmer. 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 Pietropaoli (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 many Americans have the surname Pietropaoli?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.