Explore the Family Name Pele

The meaning of Pele

1. French (Pelé): nickname for a bald man, from Old French pelé ‘bald’. 2. Romanian: nickname or metonymic occupational name from pele, a regional variant of piele ‘skin, pelt, fur’ (from Latin pellis ‘animal skin’). 3. Tongan: unexplained.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Pele has increased over a decade from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked 69,201 in popularity, while by 2010 it had climbed up the ranks to 61,123 — an increase of 11.67%. The count, or the number of people with the surname Pele, also increased during this period from 265 to 329, marking a growth of 24.15%. The proportion of individuals with the Pele surname per 100,000 people rose slightly as well, from 0.1 to 0.11.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#69,201	#61,123	11.67%
Count	265	329	24.15%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.11	10%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pele

When it comes to ethnic identity associated with the surname Pele, changes were observed between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The highest percentage was seen among Asian/Pacific Islanders, dropping from 50.57% to 41.03% in ten years. Those identifying with two or more races went up from 12.83% to 15.20%. The percentage of White individuals with the Pele surname remained relatively stable with a minor decrease from 30.57% to 30.40%. Notable was the significant rise in Hispanic identification, which grew from 3.4% to 7.29%. No data was listed for those identifying as Black, American Indian, or Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	50.57%	41.03%	-18.86%
White	30.57%	30.4%	-0.56%
Two or More Races	12.83%	15.2%	18.47%
Hispanic	3.4%	7.29%	114.41%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%