2000
#4,583
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,096
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.63
Rare Last name
Rambo
Derived from a Swedish place name meaning "raven's nest" or from a German name meaning "raven."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,410 Americans carry the last name Rambo. That puts it at #5,222 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 46,256 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rambo 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
7.4K
1 in 46,256
Census rank
#5,222
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,462 bearers of the surname Rambo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5222nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rambo, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rambo
Among Census respondents with the surname Rambo, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Rambo 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 Rambo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.4% · 5,133
- Black or African American12.8% · 825
- Two or more races3.9% · 250
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 198
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rambo
Rambo 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
#4,916
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,154
+58 bearers (+0.8%)
Per 100,000 2.43
Rank movement Down 333 places
2020
#5,222
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,462
-692 bearers (-9.7%)
Per 100,000 2.16
Rank movement Down 306 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,583 | 7,096 | 2.63 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,916 | 7,154 | 2.43 | +58 bearers (+0.8%) | Down 333 places |
| 2020 | #5,222 | 6,462 | 2.16 | -692 bearers (-9.7%) | Down 306 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 Rambo 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 | #4,916 | #5,222 | -6.2% |
| Count | 7,154 | 6,462 | -9.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.43 | 2.16 | -11.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rambo bearers went from 7,154 to 6,462 (-9.7% change). The surname moved down 306 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,916 to #5,222.
FAQ
Rambo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rambo?
Name Census estimates that about 7,410 living Americans carry the surname Rambo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 46,256 residents.
How common is Rambo?
Rambo ranks #5,222 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.16 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,462 people with the surname Rambo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,410), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.16 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Rambo.
Has Rambo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rambo went from 7,154 recorded bearers to 6,462. That is a decrease of 692 (-9.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,916 to #5,222.
What does the Census say about the background of Rambo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rambo, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Rambo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.4% (5,133 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rambo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.4%), Black (12.8%), Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Rambo (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 Rambo mean?
Derived from a Swedish place name meaning "raven's nest" or from a German name meaning "raven." 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 Rambo (2.16 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 Rambo?
If you just want to know how many Americans have the surname Rambo, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.