Explore the Family Name Dolce

The meaning of Dolce

Italian (Sicily): from the medieval personal name Dolce, meaning ‘sweet, pleasant’, from Latin dulcis. Some characteristic forenames: Italian Giuseppe, Rocco, Salvatore, Gasper, Franco, Gaspere, Sal, Angelo, Domenica, Vita, Vito.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Dolce has seen a rise in popularity across the United States. In 2000, Dolce was ranked 12,667th, but by 2010 it had climbed to the 11,722nd position, marking a 7.46% increase. The number of people bearing the Dolce surname also saw a significant jump from 2,240 individuals in 2000 to 2,673 in 2010, representing a 19.33% increase. More importantly, for every 100,000 people, the proportion with this surname increased from 0.83 to 0.91, which is a 9.64% upsurge.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#12,667	#11,722	7.46%
Count	2,240	2,673	19.33%
Proportion per 100k	0.83	0.91	9.64%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Dolce

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some shifts among those who carry the Dolce name. From 2000 to 2010, there has been an increase in the percentage of individuals identifying as Black (from 13.13% to 19.75%) and Hispanic (from 2.01% to 3.44%). Interestingly, there has also been a slight emergence of Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities, although the number remains quite low. On the other hand, the proportion of individuals identifying as White saw a decrease from 81.47% to 73.77%. There was also a noticeable drop in the percentage of people identifying as two or more races, falling from 2.50% to 1.16%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	81.47%	73.77%	-9.45%
Black	13.13%	19.75%	50.42%
Hispanic	2.01%	3.44%	71.14%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.68%	0%
Two or More Races	2.5%	1.16%	-53.6%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.19%	0%