2000
#11,605
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,481
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.92
Rare Last name
Rotondo
Derived from the Italian word meaning "round," referring to someone who lived near a round hill or building.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,417 Americans carry the last name Rotondo. That puts it at #13,749 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 141,810 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rotondo 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
2.4K
1 in 141,810
Census rank
#13,749
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,108 bearers of the surname Rotondo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13749th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rotondo, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rotondo
The surname Rotondo has its origins in Italy, dating back to the 14th century. It is derived from the Italian word "rotondo," which means "round" or "circular." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a descriptive nickname to someone of a rotund or round physique.
The earliest known record of the name can be traced back to the city of Naples, where a certain Giovanni Rotondo was mentioned in a legal document from the year 1375. In the following centuries, the name spread to other parts of southern Italy, particularly in the regions of Campania, Basilicata, and Calabria.
One of the earliest documented individuals bearing the Rotondo surname was Girolamo Rotondo, a renowned painter from the city of Messina in Sicily, who lived from around 1470 to 1535. His works, particularly his religious frescoes and altarpieces, can still be found in various churches across Sicily and southern Italy.
In the 17th century, a notable figure named Niccolò Rotondo (1588-1657) gained prominence as a Neapolitan architect and engineer. He was responsible for the design and construction of several notable buildings in Naples, including the Church of Santi Apostoli and the Palazzo Reale di Napoli.
Another individual of historical significance was Francesco Rotondo (1735-1804), a Neapolitan lawyer and politician who played a significant role in the establishment of the Parthenopean Republic, a short-lived revolutionary republic in Naples during the late 18th century.
In the 19th century, the Rotondo surname gained further recognition through the life and works of Vincenzo Rotondo (1835-1912), an Italian sculptor and painter from the town of Bari in Apulia. His sculptures and paintings, which often depicted scenes from rural life and folklore, became widely celebrated throughout Italy.
Variations of the name, such as Rotondaro, Rotondella, and Rotondino, can also be found in various parts of Italy, particularly in the southern regions. These variations often reflect the influence of local dialects or the addition of diminutive or augmentative suffixes to the original name.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rotondo
Among Census respondents with the surname Rotondo, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Rotondo 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 Rotondo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.7% · 1,933
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 97
- Two or more races2.7% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 16
- Black or African American0.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rotondo
Rotondo 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
#11,688
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,681
+200 bearers (+8.1%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Down 83 places
2020
#13,749
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,108
-573 bearers (-21.4%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Down 2,061 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,605 | 2,481 | 0.92 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,688 | 2,681 | 0.91 | +200 bearers (+8.1%) | Down 83 places |
| 2020 | #13,749 | 2,108 | 0.71 | -573 bearers (-21.4%) | Down 2,061 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 Rotondo 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 | #11,688 | #13,749 | -17.6% |
| Count | 2,681 | 2,108 | -21.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.91 | 0.71 | -22.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rotondo bearers went from 2,681 to 2,108 (-21.4% change). The surname moved down 2,061 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,688 to #13,749.
FAQ
Rotondo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rotondo?
Name Census estimates that about 2,417 living Americans carry the surname Rotondo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 141,810 residents.
How common is Rotondo?
Rotondo ranks #13,749 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,108 people with the surname Rotondo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,417), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Rotondo.
Has Rotondo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rotondo went from 2,681 recorded bearers to 2,108. That is a decrease of 573 (-21.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,688 to #13,749.
What does the Census say about the background of Rotondo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rotondo, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Rotondo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (1,933 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rotondo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.7%), Hispanic (4.6%), Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Rotondo (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 Rotondo mean?
Derived from the Italian word meaning "round," referring to someone who lived near a round hill or building. 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 Rotondo (0.71 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 common is the surname Rotondo?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Rotondo is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.