Explore the Family Name Buffa

The meaning of Buffa

Italian: 1. nickname from Sicilian bbuffa ‘toad’, from Latin bufo. 2. possibly also a nickname for a trickster, from old Italian buffa ‘trick, joke’. Some characteristic forenames: Italian Antonio, Salvatore, Vito, Angelo, Carlo, Gaetano, Gasper, Guido, Mario, Paolo, Sal, Ulisse, Vincenzo, Armando, Juanita, Manuel, Rosario.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Buffa in the United States?

The surname Buffa, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, has seen minor fluctuations in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Buffa ranked 17,685 in popularity and slightly dropped by 4.77% to rank 18,529 in 2010. The number of individuals with the Buffa surname increased negligibly from 1,462 in 2000 to 1,489 in 2010, representing a growth rate of 1.85%. However, the proportion of the Buffa surname per 100,000 people decreased by 7.41%, from 0.54 in 2000 to 0.5 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#17,685	#18,529	-4.77%
Count	1,462	1,489	1.85%
Proportion per 100k	0.54	0.5	-7.41%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Buffa

On the topic of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates some shifts among those bearing the Buffa surname. The majority identified as White, comprising 95.62% in 2000 and dropping slightly to 94.43% in 2010. The Hispanic representation saw an increase of 60.62%, rising from 2.26% in 2000 to 3.63% in 2010. Similarly, those identifying as Black almost doubled from 0.41% to 0.81%. Interestingly, there were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during this period. Those identifying with two or more ethnic identities dropped from 1.37% in 2000 to zero in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.62%	94.43%	-1.24%
Hispanic	2.26%	3.63%	60.62%
Black	0.41%	0.81%	97.56%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.54%	0%
Two or More Races	1.37%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%