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

Rambo, 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 Rambo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rambo in America

Rambo is the 4916th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rambo surname appeared 7,154 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Rambo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rambo 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 Rambo

The surname Rambo is of French origin, deriving from the Old French word "rambe," which means "wild garlic" or "ramps." This suggests that the name may have initially been an occupational surname given to someone who cultivated or traded in wild garlic.

The name can be traced back to the 12th century in the Normandy region of northern France. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Cartulaire de Louviers, a medieval manuscript from the 12th century, where a person named Radulphus Rambo is mentioned.

In the 13th century, the name is found in various forms, such as Ramboud, Ramboude, and Rambault, in documents from the Picardy and Île-de-France regions of northern France. These variations likely stem from the different dialects and spellings used in different areas at the time.

The name Rambo spread across Europe during the medieval period, with records showing individuals bearing this surname in England, Germany, and the Low Countries (present-day Belgium and the Netherlands). In England, the surname is found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, where a William Rambo is listed as a resident of Oxfordshire.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Rambo surname was Jean Rambo, a French soldier who fought in the Hundred Years' War between England and France in the 14th century. He was born around 1320 in the village of Rambouillett, near Paris.

Another notable individual with this surname was Petrus Rambo, a Dutch scholar and theologian who lived from 1556 to 1628. He was born in Middelburg, Netherlands, and served as a professor at the University of Leiden.

In the 17th century, members of the Rambo family immigrated to North America, settling in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. One of the earliest recorded Rambos in America was Peter Gunnarsson Rambo, who arrived in 1647 from Sweden and established a homestead along the Delaware River.

Another prominent figure was Jacob Rambo, born in 1667 in Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania. He was a prominent landowner and merchant, and his descendants played significant roles in the American Revolutionary War.

Michel Rambo, born in 1692 in Alsace, France, was a Huguenot refugee who fled religious persecution and settled in Pennsylvania in 1710. His descendants became influential figures in the state's early history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rambo

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

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

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

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