How common is the surname Lafayette?

2,593 people in the United States had the surname Lafayette in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 119,069 Americans. It ranked 12,035th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Lafayette?

Oliver Lafayette, American basketball player, followed by Ruby Lafayette.

Where is the surname Lafayette most common?

Wikidata records people named Lafayette in Croatia and the United States.

How do you pronounce Lafayette?

Lafayette is /ˌlæfiːˈɛt/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Lafayette getting more or less common?

More common. 2,387 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,593 in 2010, up 8.6%.

What are other spellings of Lafayette?

Fayette, Defayette and Delafayette.

Is Lafayette also a first name?

Yes. Lafayette is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Lafayette

A French surname, carried by 2,593 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˌlæfiːˈɛt/ 3 syllables Soundex L130 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Lafayette is more common than 92.6% of them.

Origin

French origin

French surname from Occitan, "the little beech tree".

One of 791 French surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 2,593 people named Lafayette in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 119,069 Americans. That is up 8.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,387.

#12,035

rank among US surnames

2,593

people in 2010

0.9

per 100,000 Americans

+8.6%

change since 2000 (was #12,009)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#12,031	Lamoreaux	2,595	118,977
#12,033	Nimmo	2,594	119,023
#12,035	Lafayette	2,593	119,069
#12,040	Fredricks	2,592	119,115
#12,042	Oliveras	2,591	119,161
#12,043	Heckler	2,590	119,207

Who is named Lafayette

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

55% of people named Lafayette identified as white (not Hispanic), 36% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 55%
Black (not Hispanic) 36%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4.7%
Two or more races 2.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Lafayettes

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Oliver Lafayette
American basketball player, born 1984
Ruby Lafayette
American actress (1844–1935)

Notable Lafayettes come mostly from Croatia (1) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Fayette
Defayette
Delafayette

Surnames that sound like Lafayette

Lafata

Lafayette has the Soundex code L130, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L130.

Other French surnames

All 791 French surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Lafayette come from?: French surname from Occitan, "the little beech tree".
How common is the surname Lafayette?: 2,593 people in the United States had the surname Lafayette in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 119,069 Americans. It ranked 12,035th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Lafayette?: In the 2010 Census, 55% of people named Lafayette identified as white (not Hispanic), and 36% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Lafayette?: Oliver Lafayette, American basketball player, followed by Ruby Lafayette.
Where is the surname Lafayette most common?: Wikidata records people named Lafayette in Croatia and the United States.
How do you pronounce Lafayette?: Lafayette is /ˌlæfiːˈɛt/, 3 syllables.
Is the surname Lafayette getting more or less common?: More common. 2,387 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,593 in 2010, up 8.6%.
What are other spellings of Lafayette?: Fayette, Defayette and Delafayette.
Is Lafayette also a first name?: Yes. Lafayette is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.