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

Rizzuto, 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 Rizzuto surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rizzuto in America

Rizzuto is the 13195th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rizzuto surname appeared 2,316 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 Rizzuto.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rizzuto 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 Rizzuto

The surname Rizzuto is of Italian origin, specifically from the southern regions of Italy. It is derived from the Italian word "riccio," meaning "curly hair," and likely originated as a nickname for someone with curly or kinky hair.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rizzuto can be found in the "Codice Diplomatico Barese," a collection of documents from the region of Bari, dating back to the 11th century. In this document, a man named "Risutto" is mentioned, which is believed to be an early spelling variation of Rizzuto.

During the medieval period, the Rizzuto name was prevalent in the regions of Campania and Calabria. In the 14th century, a notable figure named Giovanni Rizzuto was a landowner and nobleman in the town of Salerno, in the Campania region.

The name Rizzuto can also be traced back to the town of Rizzuto, located in the province of Vibo Valentia, Calabria. It is possible that the surname originated from this place name, or that the place name was derived from an early bearer of the surname.

In the 16th century, a prominent family with the surname Rizzuto rose to prominence in the city of Naples. Girolamo Rizzuto (1508-1591) was a renowned architect and engineer who designed several notable buildings in Naples, including the Palazzo Reale.

Another notable figure with the surname Rizzuto was Tommaso Rizzuto (1776-1848), a Sicilian painter and sculptor who was known for his works depicting religious and mythological scenes.

During the 19th century, the Rizzuto surname spread across Italy and beyond, as many Italians emigrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas. One notable bearer of the name was Giuseppe Rizzuto (1839-1920), an Italian-American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune in the coal industry in Pennsylvania.

In the 20th century, the Rizzuto name gained further recognition with figures like Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007), an American baseball player and broadcaster who played for the New York Yankees and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rizzuto

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!