2000
#139,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Tornambe
An Italian surname meaning "one who returns" or "to return again".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Tornambe. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tornambe 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Tornambe in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tornambe, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tornambe
The surname Tornambe originated in Italy, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Italian words "torna" meaning "to return" and "ambe" meaning "both," potentially referring to someone who traveled frequently or lived in two different places. The earliest known spelling variations include Tornambene, Tornambio, and Tornambi.
One of the earliest documented instances of the surname Tornambe can be found in a 1587 record from the Archivio di Stato di Firenze, which mentions a Giovanni Tornambe, a merchant from Florence. Another early reference is a 1612 entry in the Archivio Storico Comunale di Siena, which lists a Lucrezia Tornambe as a resident of Siena.
In the 17th century, the Tornambe family appeared to have established themselves in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. Records from the Archivio di Stato di Torino show a Giacomo Tornambe, born in 1632, who was a prominent landowner in the town of Chieri.
One notable figure with the surname Tornambe was Matteo Tornambe, a 19th-century Italian painter born in 1828 in Turin. He was known for his landscapes and genre scenes depicting rural life in Piedmont. His works can be found in several art galleries and museums across Italy.
Another individual of note was Stefano Tornambe, born in 1879 in the town of Cuneo, Piedmont. He was a respected lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Italian Parliament from 1919 to 1924.
In the 20th century, Maria Tornambe (1901-1978) was a prominent Italian educator and advocate for women's rights. She founded several schools in her native Piedmont region and worked tirelessly to promote education and gender equality.
While the surname Tornambe has its roots in Italy, it has since spread to other parts of the world through immigration. For instance, Giuseppe Tornambe, born in 1892 in the Sicilian town of Palermo, emigrated to Argentina in the early 1900s, where he started a successful business and raised a family.
Throughout its history, the surname Tornambe has been associated with various professions, from merchants and landowners to artists, lawyers, and educators. Despite its relatively small presence, the name has left its mark across different regions of Italy and beyond.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tornambe
Among Census respondents with the surname Tornambe, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Tornambe 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 Tornambe surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 112
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tornambe
Tornambe 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
#133,048
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 127
+17 bearers (+15.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 6,709 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-15 bearers (-11.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,906 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #139,757 | 110 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #133,048 | 127 | 0.04 | +17 bearers (+15.5%) | Up 6,709 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -15 bearers (-11.8%) | Down 14,906 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 Tornambe 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 | #133,048 | #147,954 | -11.2% |
| Count | 127 | 112 | -11.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tornambe bearers went from 127 to 112 (-11.8% change). The surname moved down 14,906 positions in the national ranking, going from #133,048 to #147,954.
FAQ
Tornambe surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tornambe?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Tornambe. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Tornambe?
Tornambe ranks #147,954 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 112 people with the surname Tornambe. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Tornambe.
Has Tornambe become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tornambe went from 127 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 15 (-11.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #133,048 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Tornambe?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tornambe, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. 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 Tornambe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (112 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tornambe appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). 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 Tornambe (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 Tornambe mean?
An Italian surname meaning "one who returns" or "to return again". 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 Tornambe (0.04 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 share the surname Tornambe?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.