2000
#11,459
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,521
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.93
Rare Last name
Villani
A toponymic surname referring to someone from a village or town, or a person employed on a farm.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,679 Americans carry the last name Villani. That puts it at #12,618 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.78 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 127,941 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Villani 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
2.7K
1 in 127,941
Census rank
#12,618
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,336 bearers of the surname Villani in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.78 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12618th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Villani, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (1.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Villani
The surname VILLANI originated in Italy during the medieval period. It is derived from the Italian word "villano," which means "villager" or "peasant." The name likely referred to someone who lived in a village or worked as a peasant farmer.
One of the earliest known records of the VILLANI name dates back to the 13th century, when Giovanni Villani, a famous Italian chronicler and historian, was born in Florence around 1280. He is best known for his "Nuova Cronica," a historical account of Florence and its surrounding regions.
Another notable VILLANI was Matteo Villani, who lived in the 14th century and was the brother of Giovanni Villani. He continued his brother's work on the "Nuova Cronica" after Giovanni's death in 1348.
In the 15th century, the VILLANI name appeared in records from the town of Siena, where a family of artists and architects flourished. The most famous member of this family was Francesco di Giorgio Martini Villani, an architect and engineer who was born in Siena around 1439 and died in 1501.
The VILLANI surname was also found in other parts of Italy, such as Naples and Venice. In Venice, a notable VILLANI was Girolamo Villani, a composer and organist who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Another prominent figure with the VILLANI surname was Guglielmo Villani, an Italian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 17th century. He was born in Arezzo around 1620 and made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics.
While the VILLANI name has Italian roots, it has also been adopted by families in other countries, likely due to immigration and cultural exchange. However, the earliest and most prominent examples of the surname can be traced back to medieval and Renaissance Italy.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Villani
Among Census respondents with the surname Villani, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (1.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Villani 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 Villani surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 2,119
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 144
- Two or more races1.5% · 34
- Black or African American0.9% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Villani
Villani 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
#10,512
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,053
+532 bearers (+21.1%)
Per 100,000 1.03
Rank movement Up 947 places
2020
#12,618
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,336
-717 bearers (-23.5%)
Per 100,000 0.78
Rank movement Down 2,106 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,459 | 2,521 | 0.93 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,512 | 3,053 | 1.03 | +532 bearers (+21.1%) | Up 947 places |
| 2020 | #12,618 | 2,336 | 0.78 | -717 bearers (-23.5%) | Down 2,106 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 Villani 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 | #10,512 | #12,618 | -20.0% |
| Count | 3,053 | 2,336 | -23.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.03 | 0.78 | -24.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Villani bearers went from 3,053 to 2,336 (-23.5% change). The surname moved down 2,106 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,512 to #12,618.
FAQ
Villani surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Villani?
Name Census estimates that about 2,679 living Americans carry the surname Villani. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 127,941 residents.
How common is Villani?
Villani ranks #12,618 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.78 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 2,336 people with the surname Villani. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,679), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.78 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.78 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 Villani.
Has Villani become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Villani went from 3,053 recorded bearers to 2,336. That is a decrease of 717 (-23.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,512 to #12,618.
What does the Census say about the background of Villani?
Among Census respondents with the surname Villani, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Villani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (2,119 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Villani appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Hispanic (6.2%), Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Villani (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 Villani mean?
A toponymic surname referring to someone from a village or town, or a person employed on a farm. 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 Villani (0.78 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 are called Villani?
You can see how common the surname Villani is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.