Explore the Family Name Pessoa

The meaning of Pessoa

Portuguese: nickname from pessoa ‘person’, of uncertain motivation.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Pessoa witnessed a significant increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Pessoa was ranked as the 58,130th most popular surname; however, by 2010 it had jumped to the 41,100th spot, showing an increase in rank by 29.3%. Additionally, the count of individuals with this surname also rose from 327 to 530 during this period, marking a substantial growth of 62.08%. The proportion of people named Pessoa per 100,000 increased by 50%, moving from 0.12 to 0.18.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#58,130	#41,100	29.3%
Count	327	530	62.08%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.18	50%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pessoa

The ethnicity breakdown associated with the surname Pessoa also showed considerable changes over the same decade, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. As of 2000, the majority identified as White (49.54%), followed by Black (22.02%), Hispanic (15.90%), and those of two or more races (12.23%). By 2010, the proportion identifying as White saw an increase to 65.66%, while the proportion of Black and Hispanic identities decreased to 20.38% and 9.81% respectively. Interestingly, the proportion of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander appeared for the first time in 2010 at 2.26%, while the percentage of those reporting two or more races dropped to zero. The data for American Indian and Alaskan Native remained suppressed throughout both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	49.54%	65.66%	32.54%
Black	22.02%	20.38%	-7.45%
Hispanic	15.9%	9.81%	-38.3%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	2.26%	0%
Two or More Races	12.23%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%