2000
#132,259
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Profenno
An obscure Italian surname potentially derived from a dialectal term related to "teacher" or "professor."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 138 Americans carry the last name Profenno. That puts it at #142,049 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,483,727 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Profenno 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
138
1 in 2,483,727
Census rank
#142,049
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
120
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 120 bearers of the surname Profenno in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142049th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Profenno, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Profenno
The surname PROFENNO is believed to have originated in the region of Sardinia, an island off the western coast of Italy. The name can be traced back to the 11th century, with the earliest known records dating from around 1050 AD. It is thought to be derived from the Latin word "profundus," meaning deep or profound, possibly referring to a deep valley or ravine where the family may have resided.
In the medieval period, the name PROFENNO appeared in various forms, including Profennu, Profenni, and Profennio. These variations were likely due to differences in regional dialects and spelling conventions of the time. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in a 12th-century manuscript from the Archivio di Stato di Cagliari, which mentions a landowner named Iohannes Profenno.
By the 13th century, the PROFENNO family had established themselves as minor nobility in the region of Barbagia, in the mountainous interior of Sardinia. Records from this period mention several individuals bearing the name, including Gonnario Profenno, a local magistrate who lived in the late 1200s, and Antonia Profenno, a noblewoman who inherited a sizable estate in 1289.
In the 15th century, the PROFENNO name gained prominence with the birth of Salvatore Profenno (1432-1498), a renowned scholar and poet who was widely celebrated for his works in the Sardinian language. Another notable figure from this time period was Giovannico Profenno (1460-1529), a military commander who served under the House of Aragon during the Spanish control of Sardinia.
As the PROFENNO family spread throughout Sardinia and beyond, the name took on various forms, including Profennone, Profennini, and Profennaro. Some branches of the family adopted place names as part of their surname, such as Profenno di Tonara and Profenno di Bitti, referring to the towns of Tonara and Bitti in central Sardinia.
One of the most famous individuals to bear the PROFENNO name was Giovanni Maria Profenno (1568-1638), a Jesuit priest and missionary who traveled extensively throughout the Americas and wrote several influential works on the indigenous cultures of South America. In more recent times, notable figures with the surname PROFENNO include Antonio Profenno (1823-1901), a Sardinian politician and activist, and Efisio Profenno (1912-1998), a renowned sculptor and artist from the town of Nuoro.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Profenno
Among Census respondents with the surname Profenno, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Profenno 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 Profenno surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.0% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Profenno
Profenno 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
#132,206
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 128
+10 bearers (+8.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 53 places
2020
#142,049
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
-8 bearers (-6.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,843 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #132,259 | 118 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #132,206 | 128 | 0.04 | +10 bearers (+8.5%) | Up 53 places |
| 2020 | #142,049 | 120 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.3%) | Down 9,843 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 Profenno 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 | #132,206 | #142,049 | -7.4% |
| Count | 128 | 120 | -6.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Profenno bearers went from 128 to 120 (-6.3% change). The surname moved down 9,843 positions in the national ranking, going from #132,206 to #142,049.
FAQ
Profenno surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Profenno?
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the surname Profenno. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,483,727 residents.
How common is Profenno?
Profenno ranks #142,049 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 120 people with the surname Profenno. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (138), 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 Profenno.
Has Profenno become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Profenno went from 128 recorded bearers to 120. That is a decrease of 8 (-6.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #132,206 to #142,049.
What does the Census say about the background of Profenno?
Among Census respondents with the surname Profenno, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%). 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 Profenno in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (114 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Profenno appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.0%), Hispanic (3.3%), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%). 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 Profenno (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 Profenno mean?
An obscure Italian surname potentially derived from a dialectal term related to "teacher" or "professor." 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 Profenno (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 people are called Profenno?
You can see how many Americans have the surname Profenno on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.