# Napoleon (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/napoleon/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Italian |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,624 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,928 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 117,662 people |
| Change since 2000 | +21% (2,161 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /nəˈpəʊ.li.ən/, 4 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From French Napoléon, from Italian Napoleone, name of an early saint, of uncertain origin; possibly from the Germanic clan name Nibelung. By folk etymology explained as Napoli (“Naples”) + leone (“lion”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Napoleon in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 32% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 43% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 9.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 5.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 3.0% |
| Two or more races | 7.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Napoleon in the United States.

## People named Napoleon

- Phil Napoleon, American jazz musician (1901–1990)
- Randy Napoleon, American musician
- Marty Napoleon, American pianist (1921–2015)

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.