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

Sciacca, 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 Sciacca surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sciacca in America

Sciacca is the 18467th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sciacca surname appeared 1,498 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 Sciacca.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sciacca 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 Sciacca

The surname Sciacca is of Italian origin, deriving from the town of the same name located in Sicily. The name is believed to have originated in the 11th century, during the Norman conquest of the region. It is thought to stem from the Arabic term "shakkah," meaning a cleft or fissure, referring to the town's location near a deep ravine.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a 12th-century document from the city of Palermo, where a landowner named Guglielmo Sciacca is mentioned. Additionally, a manuscript from the 13th century refers to a nobleman named Roberto di Sciacca, who held territories in the province of Agrigento.

In the 14th century, a prominent figure named Giovanni Sciacca served as a judge and legal advisor to the court of King Frederick III of Sicily. His son, Niccolò Sciacca, was a renowned scholar and philosopher who studied at the University of Bologna in the early 15th century.

The Sciacca family played a significant role in the political and cultural life of Sicily throughout the Renaissance period. One notable member was Vincenzo Sciacca, a 16th-century poet and playwright whose works were praised by contemporaries such as Torquato Tasso.

During the 17th century, the name appears in records related to the Spanish rule of Sicily. A military officer named Domenico Sciacca is mentioned in dispatches from the War of the Spanish Succession, where he served under the command of the Duke of Savoy.

In more recent times, the Italian philosopher Michele Sciacca (1908-1975) was a prominent figure in the field of Christian existentialism. His works, including "The Philosophy of Being" and "The Unity of Experience," had a significant influence on 20th-century philosophical thought.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sciacca

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

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

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

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