Explore the Family Name Fama

The meaning of Fama

1. Italian (southern; Famà): from Greek phāmā ‘speech’, hence a nickname for a garrulous person. 2. Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese: nickname from fama ‘rumor’ or ‘renown’. 3. Albanian: nickname from famë (definite form fama) ‘fame, reputation, renown’. Some characteristic forenames: Italian Salvatore, Angelo, Rocco, Santo, Sal, Silvio, Antonio, Massimo, Romualdo, Salvatore, Santi, Ugo.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Fama witnessed a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. The census recorded the surname at rank 20,028 in 2000, falling to rank 21,413 in 2010, marking a decrease of 6.92%. Similarly, the count of individuals with this surname also decreased from 1,239 in 2000 to 1,221 in 2010, a downward shift of 1.45%. Correspondingly, the proportion per 100,000 individuals also dipped by 10.87% during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#20,028	#21,413	-6.92%
Count	1,239	1,221	-1.45%
Proportion per 100k	0.46	0.41	-10.87%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Fama

The ethnic identity associated with the Fama surname showed some interesting shifts from 2000 to 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The percentage of individuals identifying as White dropped slightly from 87.89% to 84.60%, while those identifying as Hispanic saw an increase of 63.23%. Asian/Pacific Islander representation also rose from 6.38% to 7.45%. There was a newly recorded presence of Black ethnicity at 1.06% in 2010, whereas this group was not represented at all in 2000. The categories of Two or More Races and American Indian and Alaskan Native showed minimal change over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
White	87.89%	84.6%	-3.74%
Asian/Pacific Islander	6.38%	7.45%	16.77%
Hispanic	2.91%	4.75%	63.23%
Two or More Races	2.18%	2.13%	-2.29%
Black	0%	1.06%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%