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

Spadafora, 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 Spadafora surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Spadafora in America

Spadafora is the 20434th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Spadafora surname appeared 1,300 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Spadafora.

We can also compare 2010 data for Spadafora 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 Spadafora

The surname Spadafora originated from Italy. It is an Italian toponymic surname derived from the name of a town located in the province of Messina, Sicily. The name Spadafora is believed to come from the Latin word "spatha" meaning "sword" and the Greek word "phoros" meaning "bearer." This suggests the name originally referred to someone who carried a sword.

The earliest known recorded use of the surname Spadafora dates back to the late 11th century. It is mentioned in historical documents from the Norman conquest of Sicily. One notable early bearer of the name was Riccardo Spadafora, a Norman nobleman who lived in the 12th century and fought in the Third Crusade under King Richard the Lionheart.

In the 13th century, the Spadafora family held significant power and influence in Sicily. They were feudal lords and owned vast estates in the region around the town of Spadafora. Records from this time period show variations of the spelling such as Spatafora and Spathafora.

A famous historical figure with the surname Spadafora was Mariano Spadafora (1565-1632), an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Cefalù from 1622 until his death. He was known for his charitable works and efforts to improve education in his diocese.

Another notable person was Pietro Spadafora (1785-1865), an Italian painter and engraver from Palermo. He is remembered for his portraits and religious works produced in the Neoclassical style.

In the 19th century, Giuseppe Spadafora (1823-1886) was an Italian politician who served as a deputy in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy. He represented the district of Messina and advocated for the unification of Italy.

The surname Spadafora is still most commonly found in Sicily and other parts of southern Italy today. However, it has spread to other regions through migration and is now present in many countries around the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Spadafora

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

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

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

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