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

Porro, 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 Porro surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Porro in America

Porro is the 38902nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Porro surname appeared 567 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Porro.

We can also compare 2010 data for Porro 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 Porro

The surname Porro has its origins in Italy, where it first emerged during the medieval period. It is derived from the Latin word "porro," which means "leek" or "onion." This suggests that the name may have initially been an occupational surname given to someone who grew or sold these vegetables.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Porro surname appears in a document from the city of Milan, dated 1276. This record mentions a man named Guglielmo Porro, who was a landowner in the region. The name also appears in several other Italian records from the 13th and 14th centuries, indicating its widespread use during this time.

In the 15th century, the Porro family rose to prominence in the city of Como, located in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Notable members of this family included Girolamo Porro, a renowned jurist and diplomat who lived from 1433 to 1498, and his son, Gabriele Porro, who served as the Bishop of Alessandria from 1499 to 1523.

The Porro surname can also be found in historical records from other parts of Italy, such as Genoa and Venice. In the 16th century, a Genoese merchant named Bartolomeo Porro established a successful trading company that operated throughout the Mediterranean region.

One of the most famous individuals to bear the Porro surname was Alessandro Porro, an Italian mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1688 to 1742. He made significant contributions to the study of optics and is credited with developing an early form of the telescope.

Another notable figure was Francesco Porro, a 19th-century Italian architect who was born in 1801 and died in 1878. He designed several prominent buildings in Milan, including the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of the world's oldest shopping malls.

Other historical figures with the Porro surname include Giovanni Porro, an Italian painter who lived from 1560 to 1640, and Tommaso Porro, a 17th-century Jesuit missionary who traveled to China and served as a translator and interpreter for the imperial court.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Porro

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

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

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

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