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

Polo, 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 Polo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Polo in America

Polo is the 9084th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Polo surname appeared 3,598 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Polo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Polo 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 Polo

The surname Polo originates from Italy and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Italian word "polo," meaning "pole" or "stake," which was likely an occupational name for someone who worked with poles or lived near a pole-marked boundary.

The name Polo is believed to have first appeared in the Republic of Venice, particularly in the city of Venice itself and the surrounding areas. It was possibly connected to the Polo family, a wealthy and influential Venetian merchant family active in the 13th and 14th centuries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Polo can be found in the "Cronaca di Venezia," a 13th-century Venetian chronicle that mentions Marco Polo, the famous Venetian merchant and explorer. Born in 1254, Marco Polo is renowned for his travels along the Silk Road to China and his account of his journeys, known as "Il Milione" or "The Travels of Marco Polo."

Another notable bearer of the surname Polo was Niccolò Polo, the father of Marco Polo, who was a merchant and explorer. He played a significant role in establishing trade connections between Venice and the Mongol Empire.

In the 14th century, the surname Polo was also associated with the Polo family of Treviso, a city located in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. This branch of the Polo family produced several notable individuals, including Galeazzo Polo (b. 1330), a military commander and diplomat.

The Polo surname can be traced back to various place names in Italy, such as Polo d'Enza, a comune in the province of Reggio Emilia, and Polo, a frazione (subdivision) of the comune of Torrile, also in the province of Parma.

Throughout history, the Polo surname has been associated with other distinguished individuals, including the Italian artist and architect Girolamo Polo (c. 1500-1563), known for his work on the Cathedral of Palermo in Sicily, and the Italian painter Giacomo Polo (c. 1550-1605), who was active in Padua and Venice.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Polo

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

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

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

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