2000
#26,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 854
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.32
Rare Last name
Stamos
A Greek surname derived from the word "stamos" meaning "mouth" or "entrance".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,159 Americans carry the last name Stamos. That puts it at #25,582 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.34 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 295,733 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Stamos 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
1.2K
1 in 295,733
Census rank
#25,582
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,011 bearers of the surname Stamos in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.34 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 25582nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Stamos, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Stamos
The surname Stamos has its origins in Greece, emerging sometime around the 12th century. It is derived from the Greek word "stamos," meaning "mouth" or "opening," suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a notable geographic feature like a valley or pass.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name can be found in a 13th-century manuscript from the Greek island of Crete, which mentions a man named Nikolaos Stamos. This suggests that the name was already established in certain regions of Greece by that time.
In the 15th century, the name appears in records from the Venetian-held Ionian Islands, where a merchant named Georgios Stamos is mentioned in a trade document from the city of Corfu. This indicates that individuals with the Stamos surname had begun to spread across the Greek archipelago.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name can be found in various records from mainland Greece, particularly in the regions of Thessaly and Epirus. A notable example is Ioannis Stamos, a scholar and physician who lived in the city of Ioannina in the late 16th century.
As the Greek diaspora expanded in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Stamos surname began to appear in various parts of the world. One notable figure was Konstantinos Stamos, a Greek revolutionary who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1832).
In the 20th century, several individuals with the Stamos surname gained prominence in various fields. These include the American actor John Stamos (born 1963), the Greek painter Theodoros Stamos (1922-1997), and the Greek-American businessman and philanthropist George D. Stamos (1915-2015).
Overall, the surname Stamos has a rich history that can be traced back to medieval Greece, and it has since been carried by individuals across the globe, reflecting the dispersal of the Greek diaspora over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stamos
Among Census respondents with the surname Stamos, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Stamos 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 Stamos surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.6% · 876
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 73
- Two or more races3.5% · 35
- Black or African American1.6% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Stamos
Stamos 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
#27,898
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 860
+6 bearers (+0.7%)
Per 100,000 0.29
Rank movement Down 1,115 places
2020
#25,582
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,011
+151 bearers (+17.6%)
Per 100,000 0.34
Rank movement Up 2,316 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #26,783 | 854 | 0.32 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #27,898 | 860 | 0.29 | +6 bearers (+0.7%) | Down 1,115 places |
| 2020 | #25,582 | 1,011 | 0.34 | +151 bearers (+17.6%) | Up 2,316 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 Stamos 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 | #27,898 | #25,582 | 8.3% |
| Count | 860 | 1,011 | 17.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.29 | 0.34 | 16.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Stamos bearers went from 860 to 1,011 (+17.6% change). The surname moved up 2,316 positions in the national ranking, going from #27,898 to #25,582.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Stamos
FAQ
Stamos surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Stamos?
Name Census estimates that about 1,159 living Americans carry the surname Stamos. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 295,733 residents.
How common is Stamos?
Stamos ranks #25,582 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.34 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 1,011 people with the surname Stamos. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,159), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.34 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.34 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 Stamos.
Has Stamos become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Stamos went from 860 recorded bearers to 1,011. That is an increase of 151 (+17.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #27,898 to #25,582.
What does the Census say about the background of Stamos?
Among Census respondents with the surname Stamos, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Stamos in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (876 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Stamos appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (86.6%), Hispanic (7.2%), Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Stamos (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 Stamos mean?
A Greek surname derived from the word "stamos" meaning "mouth" or "entrance". 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 Stamos (0.34 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 Stamos?
Want to know how common the surname Stamos is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.