Explore the Family Name Meli

The meaning of Meli

Italian: 1. patronymic or plural form of the personal name Melo. 2. from a medieval Greek personal name, Melis, or an affectionate nickname from Sicilian meli ‘honey’. Some characteristic forenames: Italian Salvatore, Angelo, Carmelo, Ernesto, Sal, Antonio, Cosmo, Domenica, Francesco, Giuseppe, Ignazio, Mariano, Mario, Pietro, Renaldo, Rosario, Santo.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname "Meli" showed a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 17,395th in popularity, but by 2010, it had jumped to 15,355th, marking an impressive 11.73 percent increase. The number of people with this surname also increased during this period, from 1,496 in 2000 to 1,910 in 2010, a 27.67 percent surge. Consequently, the proportion of individuals with the surname per 100,000 also grew by 18.18 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#17,395	#15,355	11.73%
Count	1,496	1,910	27.67%
Proportion per 100k	0.55	0.65	18.18%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Meli

Regarding the ethnicity of the individuals bearing the surname "Meli", data from the Decennial U.S. Census indicates that most identify as White, with 91.18 percent in 2000 and slightly less at 89.63 percent in 2010. There was a small decrease in those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and a complete drop for those identifying as two or more races. Meanwhile, there was a notable increase in those identifying as Hispanic, from 3.01 percent to 3.77 percent, and Black, from no recorded percentage in 2000 to 2.36 percent in 2010. No changes were observed in the American Indian and Alaskan Native category.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.18%	89.63%	-1.7%
Hispanic	3.01%	3.77%	25.25%
Black	0%	2.36%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.21%	2.2%	-0.45%
Two or More Races	1.94%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%