Explore the Family Name Motola

The meaning of Motola

Italian and Jewish (from the Ottoman Empire, originally from southern Italy): variant of Mottola. Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Alberto, Blanca, Enrique, Estrella, Jaime, Mario, Pepe, Violeta. Italian Rocco, Angelo. Jewish Asher, Eliezer, Emanuel, Rina.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname "Motola" experienced a slight dip in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of this surname shifted from 51,458 to 52,383, representing a decrease of 1.8%. However, the number of individuals with this surname actually increased from 380 to 396 during the same period, indicating a growth rate of about 4.21%. The proportion per 100k people decreased by 7.14%, showing that the surname became less common relative to the overall population.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#51,458	#52,383	-1.8%
Count	380	396	4.21%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.13	-7.14%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Motola

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some shifts between 2000 and 2010 for individuals bearing the Motola surname. The percentage of those identifying as White dropped by 9.69% to 72.73%. Meanwhile, there was a significant increase in those identifying as Hispanic, going from 17.37% to 22.73% — a rise of 30.86%. Interestingly, the data for 2010 also showed new entries of individuals with this surname identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native (2.53%) and those identifying with two or more races (1.52%). There were no recorded instances of individuals with the Motola surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or Black during these census years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	80.53%	72.73%	-9.69%
Hispanic	17.37%	22.73%	30.86%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	2.53%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	1.52%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%