Explore the Family Name Modeste

The meaning of Modeste

French and West Indian (mainly Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia, and Grenada): from the personal name Modeste, a French form of Modest, or a nickname from modeste ‘modest, unassuming’. Some characteristic forenames: French Andre, Pierre.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Modeste has seen a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 36,232nd most popular surname but leaped to the 28,587th position in 2010 marking a 21.1% growth. The count of people bearing this surname also rose from 584 in 2000 to 834 in 2010, a notable 42.81% change. The proportion per 100,000 people increased by 27.27%, growing from 0.22 to 0.28 over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#36,232	#28,587	21.1%
Count	584	834	42.81%
Proportion per 100k	0.22	0.28	27.27%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Modeste

In terms of ethnic identity, the Modeste surname has displayed a few shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to Decennial U.S. Census data. The number of individuals identifying as Black with the Modeste surname increased by 5.99%, making up 86.21% of those with this last name in 2010. There were small increases in the percentages of people identifying as Hispanic (from 6.34% to 6.35%) and those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native (both from 0% to 0.60%). Conversely, the percentage of people with this surname identifying as White decreased substantially from 6.51% to 3.84%. Similarly, individuals identifying as Two or more races decreased from 4.45% to 2.40%.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	81.34%	86.21%	5.99%
Hispanic	6.34%	6.35%	0.16%
White	6.51%	3.84%	-41.01%
Two or More Races	4.45%	2.4%	-46.07%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.6%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.6%	0%