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

Prudhomme, 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 Prudhomme surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Prudhomme in America

Prudhomme is the 10891st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Prudhomme surname appeared 2,925 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 Prudhomme.

We can also compare 2010 data for Prudhomme 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 Prudhomme

The surname Prudhomme originates from France and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French words "prud'homme," which translates to "wise man" or "prudent man." This name was initially given as a nickname to men who were respected and seen as wise within their communities.

The earliest recorded instances of the Prudhomme name can be found in various historical records from the 12th and 13th centuries in northern France. One notable example is a mention of a Robert le Prudhomme in a charter from 1196 in Normandy.

During the Middle Ages, the Prudhomme name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Normandy, Picardy, and Île-de-France. Some variations in spelling included Preudhomme, Prudome, and Prudomme.

In the 14th century, the Prudhomme name appeared in the "Livre des bourgeois de Rouen," a record of the citizens of Rouen, indicating the presence of the family in this important French city.

One of the earliest known individuals with the Prudhomme surname was Jean Prudhomme, a poet and playwright who lived in the late 14th and early 15th centuries in Paris. His works included religious and allegorical plays.

During the 16th century, Pierre Prudhomme (1551-1616) was a renowned French lawyer and legal scholar who served as a counselor to the Parlement of Paris.

In the 17th century, Jacques Prudhomme (1617-1678) was a French architect and engineer who worked on several notable projects, including the construction of the Château de Marly for King Louis XIV.

The 18th century saw the rise of Sully Prudhomme (1839-1907), a French poet and essayist who was the first person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 for his poetic works.

Another notable figure was René Prudhomme (1873-1947), a French politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Finance and later as the Prime Minister of France from 1936 to 1938.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Prudhomme

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

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

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

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