Explore the Family Name Papillion

The meaning of Papillion

French: variant of Papillon ‘butterfly’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Papillion has seen an increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 38,771st in terms of common surnames in the United States; however, by 2010 it had risen to rank 36,838th, indicating a 4.99% increase in rank. Similarly, the count of people with this surname increased from 536 in 2000 to 606 in 2010, representing a growth of 13.06%. The proportion of individuals bearing the Papillion surname per 100,000 people also experienced a slight uptick, growing by 5% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#38,771	#36,838	4.99%
Count	536	606	13.06%
Proportion per 100k	0.2	0.21	5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Papillion

In terms of ethnicity, the Papillion surname exhibits a diverse range as evidenced by Decennial U.S. Census data. Among those with the Papillion surname, the largest ethnic group is Black, although their percentage slightly decreased from 83.58% in 2000 to 79.21% in 2010. The White population bearing this surname saw a notable increase, rising from 8.02% in 2000 to 11.22% in 2010. Those identifying as Hispanic also witnessed a significant jump, growing by 58.24% over the decade. Unfortunately, the Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native populations both fell to zero in 2010, with their previous percentages being suppressed for privacy reasons. Individuals identifying as belonging to two or more races also increased, moving from 2.99% in 2000 to 3.96% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	83.58%	79.21%	-5.23%
White	8.02%	11.22%	39.9%
Hispanic	2.61%	4.13%	58.24%
Two or More Races	2.99%	3.96%	32.44%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.12%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.68%	0%	0%