2010
#95,955
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 190
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.06
Very Rare Last name
Rotaru
A Romanian surname derived from "rotar" meaning wheelwright or cartwright.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 343 Americans carry the last name Rotaru. That puts it at #70,545 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.10 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 999,284 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rotaru 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Rotaru with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
343
1 in 999,284
Census rank
#70,545
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
299
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 299 bearers of the surname Rotaru in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.10 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 70545th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rotaru, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.3%) and Black (0.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rotaru
The surname Rotaru has its origins in Romania, tracing back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Romanian word "rotar," which means "wheelwright" or "cartwright," referring to someone who builds or repairs wheels for carts and carriages. This occupational surname was likely given to individuals who worked as wheelwrights or cartwrights.
The earliest recorded instance of the surname Rotaru can be found in the 1592 census records of the town of Sibiu, located in present-day Transylvania, Romania. In these records, a person named Ion Rotaru is listed as a resident of the town, indicating the presence of this surname in the region at that time.
Throughout the centuries, the Rotaru surname has been associated with various notable individuals. One of the earliest mentions is that of Mihai Rotaru, a prominent merchant and landowner who lived in the late 17th century in the region of Moldavia, which is now part of modern-day Romania and Moldova.
In the 18th century, Gheorghe Rotaru, a respected scholar and historian, was born in 1725 in the town of Iași, Moldavia. He made significant contributions to the preservation of historical records and manuscripts from that period.
During the 19th century, Vasile Rotaru (1820-1879) was a prominent Romanian politician and statesman who served as the Minister of Justice and played a crucial role in the unification of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which later became the Kingdom of Romania.
Another notable figure with the Rotaru surname was Dumitru Rotaru (1888-1957), a renowned Romanian painter and art educator. His works, particularly his landscapes and portraits, are highly regarded and can be found in various museums and private collections across Romania.
More recently, in the 20th century, Alexandru Rotaru (1918-1995) was a celebrated Romanian writer and journalist. He is best known for his novels and short stories that explored the lives and struggles of rural communities in Romania during the mid-20th century.
While the surname Rotaru has its roots in Romania, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to migration and diaspora communities. However, the historical records and notable individuals mentioned above highlight the rich heritage and significance of this surname within Romanian culture and history.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rotaru
Among Census respondents with the surname Rotaru, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.3%) and Black (0.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Rotaru 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 Rotaru surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.0% · 293
- Two or more races1.3% · 4
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rotaru
Rotaru appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#70,545
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 299
+109 bearers (+57.4%)
Per 100,000 0.10
Rank movement Up 25,410 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #95,955 | 190 | 0.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #70,545 | 299 | 0.10 | +109 bearers (+57.4%) | Up 25,410 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 Rotaru 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 | #95,955 | #70,545 | 26.5% |
| Count | 190 | 299 | 57.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.06 | 0.10 | 66.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rotaru bearers went from 190 to 299 (+57.4% change). The surname moved up 25,410 positions in the national ranking, going from #95,955 to #70,545.
FAQ
Rotaru surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rotaru?
Name Census estimates that about 343 living Americans carry the surname Rotaru. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 999,284 residents.
How common is Rotaru?
Rotaru ranks #70,545 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.10 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 299 people with the surname Rotaru. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (343), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.1 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.10 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 Rotaru.
Has Rotaru become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rotaru went from 190 recorded bearers to 299. That is an increase of 109 (+57.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #95,955 to #70,545.
What does the Census say about the background of Rotaru?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rotaru, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.3%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Rotaru in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.0% (293 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rotaru appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.0%), Two or More Races (1.3%), Black (0.3%). 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 Rotaru (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 Rotaru mean?
A Romanian surname derived from "rotar" meaning wheelwright or cartwright. 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 Rotaru (0.10 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 have the last name Rotaru?
Want to know how many people have the surname Rotaru? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.