Explore the Family Name Purple

The meaning of Purple

1. Probably an Americanized form (translation into English) of Italian Purpura. 2. English (Norfolk): nickname or occupational name from Middle English purpel ‘purple, dark crimson’, perhaps denoting a dyer or a trader in fine cloth, or perhaps referring to a feature of someone’s appearance.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Purple" has slightly increased between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 58,257th, while in 2010 it moved to 58,182nd place, showing a subtle rise of 0.13%. The count of individuals carrying this last name also saw a 7.06% increase, growing from 326 in 2000 to 349 in 2010. Despite these changes, the proportion per 100,000 people remained steady at 0.12 for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#58,257	#58,182	0.13%
Count	326	349	7.06%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.12	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Purple

The ethnic identities associated with the surname "Purple" have undergone some shifts as per the Decennial U.S. Census. While in 2000, no individuals of Asian/Pacific Islander or Hispanic ethnicity were recorded with this surname, by 2010, 1.43% and 2.29% respectively identified as such. Interestingly, the percentage of those identifying as two or more races decreased by 6.51%, from 2.15% in 2000 down to 2.01% in 2010. The percentage of white individuals with the surname fell marginally from 95.40% to 93.98%. There were no recorded instances of Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals with the surname "Purple" in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.4%	93.98%	-1.49%
Hispanic	0%	2.29%	0%
Two or More Races	2.15%	2.01%	-6.51%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.43%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%