Explore the Family Name Petralia

The meaning of Petralia

1. Italian (Sicily): habitational name from Petralia Soprana or Petralia Sottana in Palermo, from Greek petra leia ‘smooth stone’. 2. In some cases also an American shortened form (and Greek feminine form, denoting ‘the daughter, or wife of’) of Greek Petralias, a surname of the same origin as 1 above, derived from Sicilian settlers in Greece. Some characteristic forenames: Italian Salvatore, Sal, Amadeo, Angelo, Gino, Giuseppe, Nino, Pietro, Vincenzo, Vito.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Petralia experienced a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. Ranked at 31,958 in 2000, it fell to 35,246 by 2010, marking a decline of 10.29%. During this period, the count of individuals with the surname also dropped from 682 to 639, which represents a 6.3% decrease. Similarly, the proportion of people named Petralia per 100,000 decreased by 12%, moving from 0.25 to 0.22.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#31,958	#35,246	-10.29%
Count	682	639	-6.3%
Proportion per 100k	0.25	0.22	-12%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Petralia

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that nearly all holders of the Petralia surname identified as White in both 2000 and 2010. Specifically, 96.77% identified as White in 2000, dipping slightly to 96.4% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic saw a slight increase over the decade, growing from 2.35% to 2.5%. No significant changes were observed among other ethnic identities, with the numbers remaining at 0 for Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.77%	96.4%	-0.38%
Hispanic	2.35%	2.5%	6.38%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%